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News of the Day     In Perspective      1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9 Tucson, AZ 85716-3450 Phone: (800) 635-1196 Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. A Voice for Private Physicians Since 1943 Omnia pro aegroto Massive pork bill passed by unconstitutional process to “rescue� economyOctober 5th, 2008 According to the U.S. Constitution, all revenue bills must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives. How then did the massive bill to make taxpayers buy all kinds of toxic debt originate in the U.S. Senate?It only appears that way. For purposes of our lawmakers, “it�—that is the shell bill wrapped around the...

How much will $700 billion get you? Roughly speaking, the widely publicized cost of the financial bailout … er, rescue package … is equal to seven Apollo programs, or 70 state-of-the-art atom-smashers. The magnitude of the figures being thrown around is so much easier to understand when you use our currency conversion chart for mega-projects. (snip) Does all this make you feel better about the $700 billion, or worse? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.

The Tax Foundation has reviewed the 474 page Senate bailout bill and found a lot more pork and entirely unrelated spending in it than previously reported. The full list is below. I’d still like to know why, if we’re in the midst of such a crisis, our politicians are putting race track pork, disaster relief and “mental parity” spending into the bailout. All the more reason to just forget about this bailout, which the politicians themselves clearly aren’t taking seriously, and ride out these tough economic times. It’d be hard, no doubt, but we’d be the better for it. Energy...

Let me see if I have this right. We the People express our overwhelming disdain for a government manufactured, taxpayer-funded bailout of semi-coerced greed merchants on Wall Street and the Senate’s answer is to leave the offending legislation intact and entice weak politicians into voting for the package by adding sweetheart tax legislation to it. Can this possibly – in the most incredible of circumstances – be correct? Just as I finished setting up my new television I found myself clearing away the debris and dust from a bazooka shot that destroyed it. You see, I felt the destruction needed...

After reading all of the threads talking about what the Senators stuffed into this bloated ARMAGEDDON AVOIDANCE Act (took that from Mark Steyn), I felt the need to let Congress know that I would like my $10 million Personal Federal Bailout. I don't really have a direct purpose. I do not make wooden arrows. I do not make rum, well, not for business purposes. I do not do MANY of the things that needed separate sections in this close to 500 page bill. 500 PAGES! Not only did no Senator have time to read all 500 pages, it is a...

Republican ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, Congressman Spencer Bachus of Alabama, is heavily against approving $805 Economic Rescue Bill in the House. Representative Bachus is being very forceful, insistent, and persuasive in his argument (against Barney Frank, committee chair) to the members of the House Rules Committee that there should be discussion allowed from the floor previous to taking a vote on what will be the House version of the Economic Rescue Bill. Representative Bachman (R, AL) wants the pricetag on the House version of the Economic Rescue Bill to be knocked down to $250 billion WITH...

The piece of excrement that passed the Senate last night was another orgy in the mud for those sows on Capitol Hill. They are nothing but a bunch of crack-whores who simply cannot resist spending hundreds of millions of dollars of our money on ridiculous projects in a time of economic hardship. And the only unanswered question is what the hell do these projects have to do with bailing out the mortgage industry that the Democrats f'ed up in the first place. This bill is a made-to-order issue for McCain. He is not the president, so he had to...

Looks like my senators got Texas a little compensation:Sec. 201. Deduction for state and local sales taxes Allows residents of states that don’t pay income tax to deduct, from their federal taxes, sales tax paid over the course of the year. States that benefit include Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Wyoming. The bailout bill extends this provision for 2 years at a cost of $3.3 billion.

(C) in paragraph (4)(A)— (i) in the first sentence, by inserting after ‘‘insured loan’’ the following: ‘‘and any payments made under this paragraph,’’; and (ii) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such actions may include making payments, which shall be accepted as payment in full of all indebtedness under the eligible mortgage, to any holder of an existing subordinate mortgage, in lieu of any future appreciation payments authorized under subparagraph (B).

Here are some of the special-interest provisions that are now part of the Wall Street bailout legislation. The bill started at 3 pages, grew to 106 pages, and is now 451 pages. Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502) Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503) 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504) Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308) American Samoa (Sec. 309) Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310) Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311) Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312) Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315) Railroads (Sec....

What does this have to do with the Financial Crisis at hand

Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress rarely seem to agree on much of anything. But they do agree that the tax credits that sustain the U.S. renewable energy industry are sorely needed. And the credits’ popularity has only grown with gasoline close to $4 a gallon. But that hasn’t made it any easier for Congress to extend the credits, which expire at the end of the year. Instead, the credits are caught in a philosophical crossfire between Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans in the U.S. Senate that some staffers liken to a game of chicken....

Washington – Today, the Club for Growth released its 2007 Senate RePORK Card, compiling a scorecard of all senators’ votes on fifteen anti-pork amendments throughout 2007. These amendments were offered by taxpayer heroes Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC). “For all the talk about fiscal responsibility, it is clear that many senators are more interested in securing pet projects than living up to their campaign promises,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Fortunately, taxpayers can look at the Club for Growth’s House and Senate RePORK Cards and hold their senators and representatives accountable for wasting taxpayer dollars...

Negotiators on Capitol Hill finally reached an agreement on a sweeping bailout of the financial sector by the Treasury early this morning, attempting to head off bank runs and panics around the world when the Asian markets open tonight. The plan includes options for asset insurance that House Republicans demanded, as well as broad accountability for actions taken by Treasury in purchasing assets. The deal also allows a wider group of banks to rid themselves of the toxic assets, created in large part by Congress over the last ten years:

While congressional leaders wrangled over the details of a federal bailout for Wall Street that could cost taxpayers an extraordinary $700 billion, the U.S House quietly passed an omnibus-spending bill for nearly the same amount Wednesday. The Senate is expected to pass the $630 billion measure by week’s end. Senate leaders wringing their hands over where to find $700 billion for the Wall Street bailout might start with the fine print of the omnibus bill: The measure includes more than $6.6 billion in pork-barrel spending. The 2,000-plus earmarks fill 752 pages attached to the 357-page spending bill. Sen. Ted Stevens,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even for a party whose president suffers dismal approval ratings, whose legislative wing lost control of Congress and whose presidential nominee trails in the polls, it was a remarkably bad day for Republicans. ... snip ... "This is the president's own party," said Rep. Barney Frank, a top Democratic negotiator who attended both meetings. "I don't think a president has been repudiated so strongly by the congressional wing of his own party in a long time." ... snip ... At one point in the White House meeting, according to two officials, McCain voiced support for Ryan's criticisms...

Dems say funding a raft of special projects would stimulate economy Even as Congress moves to bail out Wall Street, congressional Democrats called Thursday for billions more in taxpayer dollars to be spent on private shipyards, a new Department of Homeland Security headquarters and hybrid car batteries - all to get the economy going. As part of their massive new spending plan, Senate Democrats also proposed continuing a ban on U.S. oil shale, a resource Republicans said leaves hundreds of millions of barrels of oil off limits, just a day after the House agreed to lift a ban on oil...

Even as Congress moves to bail out Wall Street, congressional Democrats called Thursday for billions more in taxpayer dollars to be spent on private shipyards, a new Department of Homeland Security headquarters and hybrid car batteries - all to get the economy going. As part of their massive new spending plan, Senate Democrats also proposed continuing a ban on U.S. oil shale, a resource Republicans said leaves hundreds of millions of barrels of oil off limits, just a day after the House agreed to lift a ban on oil shale exploration. Those are all part of a $56.2 billion economic...

Despite the anxiety roiling AmericaÂ’s markets, lawmakers on Capitol Hill refuse to curb their insatiable appetite for pork barrel spending. With the federal government set to run out of money on October 1 (the beginning of the new fiscal year), they just keep larding pork on to the continuing resolution, which is the temporary spending legislation that would keep government doors open. AP reports that The legislation is coming together in a remarkably secretive process in which decisions are concentrated in the hands of just a few lawmakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and...

“The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things - bread and circuses.” - Juvenal, Satire X Of all the Supreme Court decisions of recent months, the one I find most interesting is Boumediene v. Bush, the case in which, by 5-4 decision, the court extended habeas corpus rights to prisoners being held at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, included in his argument a fascinating summary of English constitutional history, covering everything from Magna Carta to the adoption of...

Republican appropriators in the House of Representatives signaled they have no intention of going along with John McCain's crusade against congressional earmarking should he become president.The Politico reportsOut on the stump, John McCain gets wild applause each time he promises as president to veto every spending bill that contains an earmark.But McCain will find it almost impossible to live up to his vow, and gridlock would result if Congress refused to go along with such an executive branch power grab.And that's what members of McCain's own party are saying."I don't think it's the right approach," said Rep. Ralph Regula, an...

...versus John McCain's actual record of reformby McCainiacRemember when Obama was for public financing before he was against it?Jon Stewart skewered Obama big time on that flip flop...Well, now Obama is bashing Sarah Palin on earmarks, while conveniently omitting some key facts....According to Citizens Against Government Waste:CCAGW’s 2007 Congressional Ratings came out yesterday and you may be wondering how the presidential nominees did. • Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) 2007 rating was 10 percent, making his lifetime score 18 percent. The 2008 Congressional Pig Book contained 53 earmarks worth $97.4 million for Sen. Obama, including $1,648,850 for the Shedd Aquarium.• Sen....

WASILLA, ALASKA -- For much of his long career in Washington, John McCain has been throwing darts at the special spending system known as earmarking, through which powerful members of Congress can deliver federal cash for pet projects back home with little or no public scrutiny. He's even gone so far as to publish "pork lists" detailing these financial favors. Three times in recent years, McCain's catalogs of "objectionable" spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time -- Sarah Palin.... This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended...

~snip~ As reported in the Seattle Times: Obama's 2007 Defense earmarks: $3,300,000 2001-07 Campaign contributions from earmark recipients: $97,250 Obama's 2007 earmarks were $97.4 MILLION dollars. Obama's 2008 earmarks total more than $330 million dollars in taxpayer funds. Earlier this year, Obama made dozens of additional earmark requests. More than half a dozen requests were meant for clients of a lobbying and law firm whose partners have donated more than $38,000 to Obama in the past two years. Obama requested $1 million for the University of Chicago Medical Center to help pay for construction of a new pavilion. The very...

This tale begins in the small town of Nanticoke, Penn., population 9,500, where hometown Rep. Paul Kanjorski got more than $3 million federal tax dollars to build the "Kanjorski Center," an office building to attract business and help the local economy. "I'm used to getting a great deal of money for my district," Kanjorski said. But things haven't quite gone according to plan. The Kanjorski Center's main tenant moved out in 2005, and the building's been empty ever since. "How much is the city paying for the building while it's empty?" Attkisson asked Pennsylvania state Rep. John Yudichak. "The city's...

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) its August Porkers of the Month for leading a do-nothing Congress into a five week vacation. Congress left for its traditional August recess after accomplishing nothing. Of the 106 bills enacted since January, 94, or 89 percent were to name government buildings or lands, extend or make technical corrections to existing laws, or passed either by unanimous consent or with less than 10 dissenting votes. The accomplishments included “Frank Sinatra Day,” National Plumbing Industry Week,” and “National Day of...

Governor Perry and other state leaders have agreed to bring a halt to the practice which some say has led to toll roads...the diversion of money from the state's highway fund to other projects, 1200 WOAI news reports. "Implement a plan that sets a definitive course to end the practice of funding the Department of Public Safety with gas taxes that are needed for road construction, and return to funding the DPS with general revenue," is the first goal in a long term transportation funding plan released by Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick. 1200 WOAI...

Republican Rep. Terry Everett of Alabama unleashed an unusually harsh attack on a House colleague, calling decorated Vietnam War veteran John Murtha, D-Pa., a cut-and-run idiot. "Don't talk to me about defense," Everett, who is retiring at the end of this term, said during a radio interview this week. "Cut-and-run John Murtha is in charge of the appropriations committee for defense and he is certainly no friend of the military.

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown on Thursday defended a bill that would help future homeowners on the undeveloped southwestern end of Kiawah Island qualify for federally subsidized flood insurance. Brown, R-S.C., said he introduced the bill last month at the behest of the town of Kiawah Island, and that "I had no idea there was a developer" connected with the legislation.

Vancouver, WA - U.S. Sen. Patty Murray offered a bleak financial assessment this week for replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge, saying it would be “extremely difficult” for the federal government to provide even the minimum contribution backers expect. Murray, D-Wash., told The Columbian the project faces a number of potential obstacles, including a projected $3.4 billion shortfall in the federal highway trust fund and the possibility of a John McCain presidency. The Arizona Republican has promised to veto any “pork barrel” earmarks that direct federal dollars to projects outside the regular appropriations process. Preliminary financial plans call for using $400...

Representative Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) denied that his lack of a residence in his congressional district should disqualify him from holding his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Where I live isn’t as important as whether I bring home the bacon for my district,” Wexler insisted. “No one can fault me on that. I get my share of earmarks for my constituents.” According to the law, congressmen must reside in the district they represent. Wexler has been illegally using his mother-in-law’s address to conceal his failure to meet the residency requirement.

Here is Sen. John McCain hitting Barack Obama for having accepted $1 Billion of Pork Barrel Projects (earmarks) during his time as a Senator. That's $1 million for every working day Obama has been in office. John McCain has never accepted an earmark. Who's really for change? McCain made the remarks July 29, 2008, during a Town Hall Meeting in Sparks, Nevada. . . (see video)

The following alert has been issued by ALG News to any posters or lurkers whose Senators are listed below may wish to contact those politicians immediately. Special Alert: ALG News has received word from sources on Capitol Hill that the following Senators are in a position to cast pivotal votes on the measure to invoke cloture on the Reid Omnibus Spending Bill to be taken up by the Senate at 4:00 today: Bayh(D-IN) – 202-224-5623 Coleman(R-MN) – 202-224-5641 Hagel(R-NE) – 202-224-4224 Hatch(R-UT)—202-224-5251 Lugar(R-IN)—202-224-4814 McCaskill(D-MO)—202-224-6154 Murkowski(R-AK)—202-224-6665 Smith(R-OR)—202-224-3753 Stevens(R-AK) – 202-224-3004 Sununu(R-NH) – 202-224-2841 Voinovich(R-OH) – 202-224-3353 If these Senators will rally...

If you want to know how out of touch Congress is on the issue of wasteful spending, listen to Florida Rep. John Mica defend his pork projects: "There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks. That's our job, getting elected and making decisions." Mr. Mica is the most powerful Republican on the Transportation Committee. The idea that bringing home federal dollars is integral to a politician's job and essential to getting re-elected is a favorite of Republicans and Democrats alike. Three months ago, Hillary Clinton told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, "I'm very proud of my earmarks. It's one...

Only 16 Senators, all conservative Republicans, voted against the massive $50 billion global AIDS spending bill (S. 2731) when it came up for a final vote on Wednesday night. The outcome, which included the addition of water projects for Indian reservations, demonstrated the complicity of both major political parties in out-of-control spending designed to benefit a powerful special interest group. The final vote was 80-16 with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, both original sponsors of the bill, on the campaign trail and not available to cast a vote on the Senate floor. Dr. Paul Zeitz of the Global AIDS...

The Department of Transportation is refusing to move forward on an earmark backed by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Pa.), the rare House Democrat facing a tough reelection this fall. Transportation (DoT) is blocking funds to build a $5.6 million parking garage to the Kanjorski Center, which was constructed to attract economic development in the city of Nanticoke in Kanjorski’s Eastern Pennsylvania district. Kanjorski’s earmark for the project was included in the 2005 transportation bill. DoT contends the garage does not meet federal rules intended to spur the use of public transportation. Those rules allow federal funds for parking garages only if...

In an attempt to garner a few extra votes this November, Rep. Ron Klein sent $1,635,000 to South Florida in the form of earmarks hidden away in the Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act. He went after the teacher's union vote by dishing out $585,000 to provide a teacher mentoring and training program. Broward Community College received $200,000 for aviation equipment. Palm Beach Community College was given $300,000 for equipment and technology. $175,000 was given to the Jewish Federation of Broward County, Davie for a program that gives demonstrations on family caregivers. And he also...

(CNSNews.com) - The House of Representatives tucked $277.9 million worth of earmarks - items in a spending bill usually designated for a congressman's district or state - into the appropriations bill it passed before the July 4 break. That number is a 122 percent increase over the amount spent on earmarks in last year's bill, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). The appropriations bill in question is the Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, or simply Labor/HHS. "In typical Congressional fashion, the Labor/HHS bill is loaded with pork projects and wasteful...

Huck PAC Endorses Don Young Huck PAC, created by former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, has officially endorsed Congressman Don Young in his re-election bid for Alaska's seat in the House of Representatives. The endorsement release can be found below and at this link. Rep. Young by Team Huck PAC Representative Don Young is running for re-election in Alaska. A strong conservative, Don Young's stance on the issues makes him a Huck PAC endorsed candidate. Don Young has focused on: 1. Making America energy independent. 2. Improving our nation's infrastructure. 3. A strong military and defense. He...

Add "Porker of the Month" to the trophies on Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's mantle. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Sen. Dodd its June porker for his "blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers," and for his "monstrous mortgage bailout bill that will dump ($300 billion) worth of risky mortgages onto the backs of taxpayers while lending a helping hand to his corporate benefactor." He saved $75,000 under VIP mortgages he got from Countrywide Financial in 2003. Now his bailout package seeks to reward the most unscrupulous subprime lenders and the most irresponsible borrowers at the expense of homeowners...

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama took his campaign to Miami, Florida, on Saturday with a message to the nation's mayors: I'll be your ally in Washington, Sen. John McCain will not. (snip) "Both Sen. McCain and I have traveled recently to the areas that have been devastated by floods. And I know that Sen. McCain felt as strongly as I did feeling enormous sympathy for the victims of the recent flooding. ... And I'm sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it even more if Sen. McCain hadn't opposed legislation to fund levees and flood control...

house.govNick Lampson has disclosed his earmark requests for 2009. The deadline has passed for House members to submit their requests for earmark projects for fiscal year 2009. We'll post the requests by the Houston delegation as we receive them. Here they are for Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford: • $1.25 million for Advanced Materials Research and Development for Space Shuttle Program • $3 million for Air National Guard Air fleet Technology Modernization • $2.72 million for Arcola-Fresno Regional Water & Wastewater Infrastructure • $1 million for Bay Area Houston Technology and Education Center • $3 million for Big Creek Mitigation...

house.govKevin Brady has disclosed his earmark requests for 2009. The deadline has passed for House members to submit their requests for earmark projects for fiscal year 2009. We'll post the requests by the Houston delegation as we receive them. Here they are for Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science: • $1.48 million for Sam Houston State Rural Crime Lab Subcommittee on Defense: • $3.225 million for No-Idle Climate Control for Military Vehicles • $3.5 million for Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies, Sam Houston State University Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development: • $1.7...

house.govRon Paul has disclosed his earmark requests for 2009. The deadline has passed for House members to submit their requests for earmark projects for fiscal year 2009. We'll post the requests by the Houston delegation as we receive them. Here they are for Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science: • $250,000 for Galveston Economic Development Partnership, for Galveston Center for Business and Technology Development to help spin off private investment at National Lab of the University of Texas Medical Branch • $500,000 for City of Bay City for NuBlac Rehab Center (youth rehabilitation) Subcommittee...

   Who’s Pumping It Up? June 12, 2008 If the U.S. Congress treated the taxpayer with the same largesse as the “Big Five” oil companies do...everybody would go out and lease a new SUV. But, as the average price of regular gasoline drove through the $4 per gallon level, the Congress of this country embarked on more certain-to-fail energy schemes...and did so with gaseous verbosity. The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate’s latest confiscatory socialist scheme is a windfall profits tax “against” U.S. oil companies. The Democrats want to levy a 25 percent tax on oil company profits exceeding what they would determine to be "reasonable". The...

AL Gore claims that "good enough for government work" once implied that such work met the highest standards of excellence. Maybe. But in the US Senate's kitchens, "good enough for government work" means any meal that doesn't require a stomach pump. [Snip] As befits a government-run commissary, the Senate cafeteria has a decidedly Soviet attitude toward variety. It has averaged only two new menu items a year over the last decade. The food is so bad, every lunch hour Senate staffers rush to the House side of the Capitol like starving New Yorkers of the future storming the last Soylent...

The majority party in congress is pulling out all the stops to assist Barack Obama’s presidential bid. According to the AP, the Dems have juggled the legislative agenda to reflect Obama’s political platform: Between now and Election Day, Democrats say they will use Congress to showcase the kinds of change promised by their presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Of course, this is old politics — not the shiny new brand Obama likes to trumpet. Whatever legislation Democrats offer, it will have been vetted for the benefit of the Obama campaign as is traditional between the congressional majority and its presidential candidate....

WASHINGTON - So much for trimming the pork. The practice of decorating legislation with billions of dollars in pet projects and federal contracts is still thriving on Capitol Hill — despite public outrage that helped flip control of Congress two years ago. More than 11,000 of those "earmarks," worth nearly $15 billion in all, were slipped into legislation telling the government where to spend taxpayers' money this year, keeping the issue at the center of Washington's culture of money, influence and politics. Now comes an election-year encore. It's a pay-to-play sandbox where waste and abuse often obscure the good that...

WASHINGTON - So much for trimming the pork. The practice of decorating legislation with billions of dollars in pet projects and federal contracts is still thriving on Capitol Hill — despite public outrage that helped flip control of Congress two years ago. More than 11,000 of those "earmarks," worth nearly $15 billion in all, were slipped into legislation telling the government where to spend taxpayers' money this year, keeping the issue at the center of Washington's culture of money, influence and politics. Now comes an election-year encore. It's a pay-to-play sandbox where waste and abuse often obscure the good that...

Examples of lawmakers who have sponsored earmarks for private companies and received campaign contributions from them and, in some cases, their lobbyists: _Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, a member of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, obtained a $2.4 million earmark last year for the Greentree Group of Beavercreek, Ohio, for a digital information sharing system. Greentree Group executives, their families and consultants have donated $43,350 to Hobson since 2000, reports The Columbus Dispatch. _Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., a member of House defense appropriations subcommittee, sponsored a $2 million earmark to 21st Century Systems last year for a virtual fence demonstration project....