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WASHINGTON — The White House plans to announce that the federal deficit is about $262 billion less than officials predicted earlier this year — partly because the administration has provided less aid than expected to Wall Street.

The latest tally of stimulus spending can be found here. Go to the link and on the upper right will be a listing: *American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Report* The link will be an excel sheet that can be sorted and columns deleted once saved on your computer for easy research. Updated as of 8/14/2009 So far- Stimulus Spending is at: $16,489,134,643.81

With great fanfare, General Motors announced yesterday that the Chevy Volt, the car picked to turn the company around, will get around 240 miles/gallon, if true, certainly a great achievement. What was not mention is the fact that General Motors will be selling the Volt at a loss, in other words the company will lose money every time someone buys a Volt. This proves the great influence GM's new owners the Obama administration. has on the new company. Under the tutelage of the Obama administration and the Democratic part, the deficit quadrupled from $459 billion in 2008 to $1.85 trillion...

Analysis: Health care will run into spending bills after recessBy Ed Hornick CNN updated 7:16 a.m. EDT, Tue August 11, 2009 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of Congress will come back from their summer break in September to a plate full of health care reform -- that's if they survive the latest rancorous and sometimes violent town hall meetings. Senators are getting an earful on the subject from constituents. House members, who began their recess a week earlier, also got a head start on hearing from residents in their districts, facing sometimes contentious comments. But when Congress returns, members will be...

As Democrats and Republicans seek advantage in the current town hall brouhaha neither side grasps what is driving this political phenomenon. These crowds might be shouting about healthcare reform but it's the sausage that has them fired up. The 19th century German statesman Otto von Bismarck is to democratic (small d) politics what Sun Tzu is to war and Machiavelli to despotism. His extraordinary career gave us many insightful quips about modern democratic politics. Even if you have never heard of Bismarck you know some of his observations; "Politics is not a science, it is an art" and "Politics is...

Perhaps states are starting to learn the right fiscal lessons from the red-ink blowouts in high-tax California and New York. Today, the legislature in Arizona will vote on a tax reform designed to entice more employers and high-income taxpayers to the state. Sponsored by Republican Governor Jan Brewer, the plan would cut state property taxes, the corporate tax and personal income taxes, in exchange for a temporary rise in the sales tax. Most economic studies agree that states have more jobs and higher income growth when they tax consumption rather than savings, investment and business profits. This explains why most...

The latest tally of stimulus spending can be found here. Go to the link and on the upper right will be a listing: *American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Report* The link will be an excel sheet that can be sorted and columns deleted once saved on your computer for easy look up. Updated as of 8/7/2009

In February, the President signed a "fiscal stimulus law" to supposedly "create or save" millions of jobs. If executed according to plan, the bill will cost $789 billion, or about $2,600 for every American, and this does not even count the extra economic harm when our government levies the taxes to pay for it. Fortunately, almost 90% of the government spending planned by the law has not yet occurred -- which means that it can, and should, be stopped. The economy has been in bad shape. Employment has fallen for a year and a half now. Real GDP has dropped...

Urging members of his own party to be just as fiscally tough as the most conservative Republicans, Obama said the $700 billion economic bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration and congressional leaders is forcing a renewed look at federal spending. As president, Obama said he would create a White House team headed by a chief performance officer to monitor the efficiency of government spending. "I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it's there," Obama said at a rally. "We will fire government managers who aren't getting results, we...

Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds. The purchases will help accommodate growing travel demand by congressional officials. The planes augment a fleet of about two dozen passenger jets maintained by the Air Force for lawmakers, administration officials and military chiefs to fly on government trips in the U.S. and abroad. The congressional shopping list goes beyond what the Air Force had initially requested as part of its annual...

There have been disturbing stories/rumors going around that the USD is poised for a crash episode in the Fall. The stories are basically anecdotal. One suggests that US embassies have been told to gather a year's local currency in their host country... In fact, one astonishing story by a US congressman later on the events was that one fateful day in Fall 08, there was a run on US money market funds and banks to the incredible tune of $2 trillion in a mere two hours! And until the US Treasury stated they would guarantee US MMFs, the Fed and...

Since the 1950's GDP has largely been used to measure the economic well being of nations. It is the arguably the foremost statistical factor that economic growth is derived from. To illustrate the idea of why GDP is a poor gauge of well being in a country consider this example for a moment. In the US, any money spent to re-develop the World Trade center in New York after September 11th has in one way or another counted towards GDP growth. The same goes for any other natural or manmade disaster throughout the country. Likewise, any money spent by the...

....GAO analysis of the stimulus act... shows pretty clearly that the 76 percent of stimulus spending through the first four months went to fill in the gaping holes in Medicaid and state budgets. In other words, the stimulus isn't acting like a pole vault lifting job creation above the baseline

On the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, January 20, the total combined United States national debt stood at $10,626,877,048,913.08, with the portion of the debt held by the public being $6,307,310,739,681.66. On Friday, July 31, less than six and a half months later, the numbers rocketed up to $11,669,251,349,504.65 for the total combined debt, and $7,335,573,300,422.11 for the portion of the debt held by the public. This represents a rather staggering rate of increase of almost five and a half billion dollars a day since the inauguration! And this increase includes hardly any of the stimulus package passed by Obama...

Towns, cities, counties and states across the country spent a total of $21.4 million on lobbyists between April and June, up 2.7% from the first quarter of the year and in line with spending levels through 2008, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Almost 1,000 different governments reported paying representatives to pursue their agenda. About a quarter reported lobbying specifically about the stimulus package. The National League of Cities has said its members face their worst fiscal problems since 1985. State revenue dropped more sharply in the first quarter of this year than any time...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul. As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits. With former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan saying he is "pretty sure we've already seen the bottom" of the recession, Obama aides sought to defend the economic stimulus and calm a jittery public. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National...

I am currently planning an essay and a youtube presentation about FDR's new deal. I want to refute claims that it brought an end to the Great Depresion and show that it actually made the depresion worse. I've been getting a lot of moonbats on Youtube and my blog claiming that Obama's stimulus package will save America the way FDRs new Deal did. :ROLLS EYES: I need some help refuting them. Articles, graphs, you could reference would be appreciated. Thanks.

SYRACUSE NY--President Barack Obama claims that the federal stimulus program is designed to create or save jobs. But at least one government official now says that's not how projects are chosen..... Sally Rockey, an acting deputy director at the National Institutes of Health, has admitted that the agency does not choose projects based on the jobs they would create: The National Institutes of Health, the country's top research agency, is awarding recovery money to projects proposed long before the recession. With $8 billion extra dollars to spend on research, agency officials went back to the list of projects that had...

The latest tally of stimulus spending can be found here. Go to the link and on the upper right will be a listing: *American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Report* The link will be an excel sheet that can be sorted once saved on your computer.

The Science and Public Policy Institute announces the publication of Climate Money, a study by Joanne Nova revealing that the federal Government has a near-monopsony on climate science funding. This distorts the science towards self-serving alarmism. Key findings:

(snip) Rich people's money doesn't belong to the government -- and neither does yours. For the past 30 years we have been re-electing the same idiots to Congress and now it's coming back to haunt every one of us. These people have no problems spending your money nor do they really care about you. They talk the talk, but none of them can walk the walk. Let's take one guy, our friend Harry Reid. He now has $9 million in the bank for re-election and this could go to $25 million. Is he hurting in this economy? No. If you...

With economic recovery nowhere in sight and its fiscal policies increasingly called into question, the Obama administration yesterday revealed that it would not be releasing its expected mid-year budget review until next month. Although the administration insisted this was a mere bureaucratic formality, critics were quick to note that the delay would help bury some politically unpalatable news about the budget, including its projected rise of the 2009 deficit. Concern about the administration's budget has already been stoked by the Congressional Budget Office, whose reports in recent months have read like an unending barrage of bad news. The CBO's latest,...

How much does the House Democrats’ health care overhaul cost? Is it $1 trillion or $1.6 trillion? Democrats argue the number should be $1 trillion, a number provided by the Congressional Budget Office for the net cost of the portion of the bill affecting health insurance, and they boasted in press releases that the bill actually creates a $6 billion surplus over the coming decade. But the gross cost of the bill is much higher, more than $1.6 trillion, according to a Roll Call analysis of the CBO data. And despite more than $800 billion in tax and fee hikes,...

The graphic story of the finacial bailout of the last 8 months. Financial Meltdown Bailout

See Drudge Headlines:SPENDING SCARED: WHITE HOUSE PUTS OFF RELEASE OF BUDGET UPDATE... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $2,531,600 FOR 'HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,191,200 FOR '2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $351,807 FOR 'REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,562,568 FOR 'MOZZARELLA CHEESE'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $5,708,260 FOR 'PROCESS CHEESE'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $16,784,272 FOR 'CANNED PORK'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,444,100 FOR 'REPAIR DOOR BLDG 5112'... RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $541,119 FOR 'INSTALL TRAFFIC SIGNAL'... Agriculture Sec. Vilsack: 'Purchased 760,000 Lbs of ham at cost of approximately $1.50 per pound'... FOOD LION: $.79...

The total price tag for federal support stemming from the financial crisis could reach $23.7 trillion in the long run, the government's top bailout watchdog says in a new report to Congress. The total price tag for federal support stemming from the financial crisis could reach $23.7 trillion in the long run, the government's top bailout watchdog says in a new report to Congress. Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, plans to deliver his report Tuesday to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The $23.7 trillion figure is admittedly a high-ball number and...

Over the past several weeks, President Barack Obama and some congressional leaders have cited Mayo Clinic and other medical group practices as "a great value" for your health care dollar: high-quality care at costs that are significantly less than other parts of the country. While we appreciate this recognition, we question whether our political leaders realize that many doctors and hospitals that offer this high-value care are reaching the point where we cannot afford to provide it to patients with government-sponsored insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. We worry that the same could hold true for patients in a new...

We need some creative people to post some fliers that Freepers looking to support the 9/12 March on Washington can hand out in their neighborhoods. I did a quick search of the internet and could not find anything. If anybody knows where to find or has created an effective, well-designed flier please post a link here.

Barack Obama has been president for only six months. Last November the American electorate handed him an overwhelming victory in hopes Obama would deliver the “change” he promised. It appears even by the most objective of standards, Obama may be over-reaching. Much was expected from the great orator from Illinois; perhaps too much for a man without executive experience. In just four years Obama has gone from being a state senator, to the U.S. Senate, to winning the Democratic nomination for president and to the presidency. In my many years in sales and marketing, I witnessed countless young, personable, talented...

Website with information on 9/12 March on Washington above.

Will Congress listen before it passes $TRILLIONS in new spending for health care?This is frightening. Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office posted the following on his blog: The Long-Term Budget Outlook By Douglas Elmendorf Congressional Budget Office July 16, 2009 Today I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Budget Committee about CBO’s most recent analysis of the long-term budget outlook. Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run. Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs...

For two guys who ran on their "judgment," President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. have yet to show us much of it, particularly in their handling of the economy. Two weeks ago, Mr. Biden said, "We misread how bad the economy was." I had to read that statement twice to make sure I didn't misread it. When Lehman Brothers and American International Group Inc. blew up in mid-September, Mr. Obama slammed into Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, as inept on economic issues and incapable of reading the economy and crafting appropriate responses to it. Until that moment...

Former UCLA chancellor Charles Young has filed a suit asking the California court to invalidate that state’s constitutional provision requiring that tax increases must obtain a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature in order to be enacted into law. The two-thirds rule passed by voters in a 1978 initiative, is held responsible for thwarting Democrat’s efforts to closed the budget deficit with a tax hike. Young’s suit argues that “the two-thirds rule is undemocratic because it interferes with the majority’s right to control the state’s resources. It places the rights of the minority to hold onto their property...

Link only - GOP unifies against any more stimulus spending

$18 million USD to track government stimulus spending (recovery.gov) is... A Daily Poll

Reminiscent of the no-bid, cost-plus contracts awarded in the Bush administration to defense contractors, ABC News reported last night the Obama Administration awarded a 5 year $18 million contract to Smartronix, a Maryland-based IT firm with connections to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, for the redesign of Recovery.gov. Launched in February to track the expenditures of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Recovery.gov was to be the pinnacle of web-enabled transparency, according to President Barack Obama. “The site is the tip of the iceberg for the effort that will go into taking spending tracking and accountability to the...

Joe said the administration "misread the economy" 60% of Americans are against a second stimulus package. Will the administration draft Stimulus Package 2?

The math says that a second stimulus will have to be funded with pure deficit spending, just like the first one, which means selling an equivalent amount of Treasury bonds. That's where stimulus money comes from. That's the stork that delivers it. And when investors buy Treasury bonds, they aren't putting the money towards something else. It simply goes to DC to be distributed as the government sees fit. While this will result in some lovely-sounding projects, it will also result in overpriced contracts, earmarks, and economically worthless pursuits like the construction of an ethnic heritage trail or a Las...

It is not without serious reservation that the Tea Parties maintain their theme of being about the American people who are sick and tired of Washington’s overspending. However, with the left controlling the media for so long, we‘ve been smothered by leftists such as this one with the usual “It’s Bush’s fault” rhetoric. This calls for some straightening out of the facts. 1. During the Clinton era, the Republicans controlled the House and Senate from 1995 to 2001. Almost everything that got to Clinton’s desk was written by Republicans. Even though Clinton likes to take credit for the record surplus,...

What the hell has happened to Bruce Bartlett? This guy at one point was a dedicated Reaganite. Nowadays, his columns vary from endorsing a VAT to pay for big government, lecturing Republicans that they need to 'get real and accept the welfare state', attacking the tea party protesters as 'partisans', trashing Republicans for not offering an alternative to the stimulus (in reality they did). Bartlett has essentially told Republicans to 'give up' on pushing for lower taxes because that's not realistic. He's also attempted to make the case that Washington can raise taxes on people now because 'people enjoy the...

Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much. "I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN's John King, released by the network Friday morning. Mr. Powell, a retired U.S. army general who rose to political prominence after a long and accomplished military career,...

Twittered by Major Garrett, Fox News White House correspondent: State budget woes worsen. Gibbs: WH open to state bailouts if they will help economy. See bleak state $$ here: http://bit.ly/oiSl2

The contrast between liberal and conservative ideologies could be no more obvious than in tough economic times. With states struggling to deal with huge deficits there are stark and apparently irreconcilable differences between leaders on how to bridge the gap. In general Democrats want to raise taxes to cover deficits and Republicans want to shrink the bloated size of government to offset the differences. It seems that common sense should be the rule of the day. As individuals we too are faced with the same conundrum but have only one choice; we have to reign in our spending and cut...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency to force lawmakers into a special session to tackle a state budget gap that has widened to $26.3 billion from $24.3 billion after they failed to close it on Tuesday. Lawmakers debated late into the night Tuesday but could not agree on a plan to balance California's budget for its new fiscal year, which began early Wednesday morning. That cleared the way for state officials to suspend payments owed to vendors and local agencies, who instead will get "IOU" notes promising payment. The notes would mark...

The emperor with no clothes, Barack Obama, becomes a more frightening figure with each passing day. Firstly, the man has failed to reveal his long form birth certificate. Instead he touts his "certificate of live birth" as proving his birthplace in Honolulu. However, in 1961 many "certiicates of live birth" were obtained by foreign-born persons. In addition, the standard long-form birth certificate is needed to qualify for programs such as those offered by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The empty suits in the media are so in love with this guy they have gladly swept the issue under the...

A concerned patriot wrote me the following. “...our Tea Party efforts are taking a weird turn. As you know the April 15th nationwide rallies were a BIG success! The issues were Runaway Federal Spending and lack of primarily, the Federal Government doing what is best for the people. ...we are receiving direction to turn our focus to the Local Cities, Counties, and School Boards and not to focus on National issues. This is not what started the Tea Parties and in my opinion is not where we should be going as a "Grassroots" group.” The following is my reply. There...

Reject McCaul Amendment Banning the Practice WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the third time in one week House Democrats have sent a clear message that they favor continuing the self-serving practice of using taxpayer dollars to fund projects named after sitting members of Congress. Wednesday night, Democrat leadership denied the House a vote on the latest amendment from Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX 10) which would ban the practice.

WASHINGTON - Amid rising public impatience with an economy now under his watch, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said his administration needs to push money out faster to initiate a recovery and conceded that unemployment would rise above 10 percent. “People are going through a very tough time right now,” Obama said at a White House news conference. “And I don’t expect them to be satisfied.”

MINNEAPOLIS - The city of Minneapolis is spending nearly $200,000 to sell something that would seem to sell itself: tap water. With her bottle of water in hand, Susan Davis was feeling hot and a little guilty. “It would be great if everyone did drink the tap water,” said Davis. “I think the tap water in Minneapolis is just fine.” Tap Minneapolis is the city's new web site, and PR campaign to promote the city's tap water. But unlike tap water, it's not cheap. The web site costs $75,000. The total cost paid to the PR firm was $180,000.