makes ya wonder how many fake nails, hair extensions, gold teeth and $200 sneekers that works out to...
Posted on 03/13/2010 4:56:40 AM PST by IbJensen
The left plans to continue its assault on welfare reform by extending the welfare spending increases established in last year's "stimulus" bill. Fortunately, The Heritage Foundation's welfare expert, Robert Rector, continues to play an important role in the debate.
At a congressional hearing yesterday, Rector was the only witness representing conservative ideas. He was up against Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA) and his handpicked witnesses, who argued that welfare spending hasn't increased enough. Rector, who was chiefly responsible for the groundbreaking welfare reforms of 1996, testified that the U.S. is already expected to spend almost $1 trillion on means-tested (i.e. "welfare") programs next year. This is roughly a 50 percent increase since fiscal year 2007.
This factoid prompted an interesting exchange between Rep. John Linder (R-GA) and Carmen Nazario of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has jurisdiction over major welfare programs.
» Watch a video of the exchange
Linder quoted directly from Rector's testimony and then asked, "Is it your testimony that $953 billion is not enough?" To which the Obama administration witness responded, "Who's to say what is enough?"
Well, if this is an open invitation, The Heritage Foundation can certainly think of someone to tell the Obama administration witness what's enough. But, then again, I think he already did.
Great job, Robert Rector! Deformed health care reform
Many conservatives, including Heritage Foundation experts, have been arguing that the President's supposedly "fresh" 11-page health care proposal is virtually no different from the Senate bill. It's true. The President's draft includes most of the same bad proposals that the Senate bill does. But there is one key difference between the two: The Senate bill actually exists.
Until the President's proposal is drafted as official legislation, the only proposal the House can and will consider is the bill the Senate passed. But the differences between the Senate bill and the one that cleared the House are stark.
To get their bill through the House, Senate liberals and the White House are offering some flaky "fixes." As Heritage's Conn Carroll explains:
The "fixes" that the White House is promising wavering House Democrats they will make all sound easy at first glance: 1) scaling back the tax on high-end health insurance policies; 2) closing the Medicare D loophole; 3) boosting insurance subsidies; 4) increasing Medicaid payments; and 5) fixing the Cornhusker Kickback. But when you take a second look, you see that all of these "fixes" will cost more money. Just look at the Cornhusker Kickback which the President chose to address, not by taking away Nebraska's special Medicaid payments, but by extending those extra Medicaid payments to every state! Every single item in the President's proposal either increases spending or reduces new revenues. And he didn't put forward any way to pay for them. If passing health reform were as easy as giving away free candy, Obamacare would be law already. Finding a way to pay for all these fixes is going to be just as difficult as every earlier effort to pay for this bill. So don't expect any solutions anytime soon.
This doesn't even begin to address abortion, a major roadblock the Senate bill faces in the House. Fox News reports that a coalition of seven House Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), has threatened to kill Obamacare altogether if federal funding for abortion is not explicitly prohibited in the final legislation, as it is in the House bill.
So, to appease their colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are offering a "pie-crust promise" -- easily made and easily broken -- to remove abortion language after the House vote during the Senate's reconciliation process. Is this realistic, though? "Never before in the history of the 34-year abortion funding debate have pro-life members of Congress approved a bill containing abortion funding on the promise that a subsequent vote will fix the problem," Heritage expert Chuck Donovan argues. In short, the left is resorting to bad procedure to advance an even worse health care policy.
Instead of rushing the process with oddly-structured concessions, and instead of passing the bill to "find out what's in it," as Speaker Pelosi argued, lawmakers should focus on starting over. The American people support health care reform, just not this one.
A better idea would be a reform that upholds core American principles. For example, our experts advocate a state-based approach to reform. "Home-grown reforms tailored to the prevailing conditions in the states make the most sense," writes Heritage health care expert Bob Moffit. So let's start over by allowing states to "compete in the arena of health policy and see which ones best achieve the nation's universal health care goals. Should the government define marriage?
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines marriage as the "formal union of a man and a woman, by which they become husband and wife." Historically, this unique union has been universally recognized and upheld as the primary institution of civil society, writes Heritage expert Chuck Donovan. Until recently, that is.
Last week, the District of Columbia became the sixth U.S. jurisdiction to authorize same-sex marriage, and over 400 homosexual couples have already applied for their marriage licenses in DC. But the D.C. City Council's new same-sex marriage law omits a significant Constitutional component: religious exemption. This means that all social service agencies in the city, even those with religious affiliations, are required to extend their services to same-sex couples.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Major religious denominations worldwide, particularly the Catholic Church, do not recognize sexual relationships other than marital unions between a husband and wife. But the City Council's new marriage law does not honor this…
» Read the entire article at MyHeritage.org.
…Recent developments, which are increasing in number, suggest a growing public desire to vote on the marriage issue, and not leave it to legislatures or especially to the courts to decide. Furthermore, as Donovan argues, the popular outcries against the imposition of same-sex marriage "invalidate the idea that major changes in civil society can be implemented without profound clashes of principle." Other Heritage work of note
* The Heritage Foundation's recently published Index of Dependence on Government shows frightening figures. Approximately 61 million Americans rely on the government for their basic daily needs, including shelter, food, and health care -- and this number doesn't even include federal employees, writes Heritage's Bill Beach. One thing is clear: we cannot afford more legislation that expands dependency. "After all," Beach writes, "more debt creates another mandatory program: It's called paying interest."
* Conservatives have long been skeptical of President Obama's promises on the federal deficit. But his disregard for the American taxpayer reached an entirely new level when he released his 2011 budget proposal in February. Heritage's Brian Riedl points out some of the most egregious elements of the plan: raising taxes by $3 trillion over the next 10 years and borrowing 42 cents for each dollar spent in 2010. "President Obama has offered a budget that does nothing to address the nation's serious short-term and long-term fiscal problems--and indeed makes them worse," Riedl argues.
* Last year the Department of Defense cut the Army's Future Combat Systems, the only major program designed for experimenting with new battlefield technology. In addition, the Army relies in many cases on commercial technology, which is constantly changing and can be ill-suited to combat. “By the time the Army starts to adopt the tech, systems are outdated,” explains Heritage’s James Carafano. That means the Army needs to keep experimenting -- but budget cutbacks mean the new Army Experimental Task Force has little to experiment with.
Want to know more? To read the full article and post your comments, click here.
In other news
* During an address before Alabama University law students, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts described President Obama's comments about the court during the State of the Union address as "very troubling." The President chided the Supreme Court's correct decision to uphold the First Amendment in their Citizens United v. FEC ruling.
* President Obama is pushing a new export-promotion initiative, which Heritage experts argue is a reversion to outdated and harmful economic ideas.
* Unable to achieve bipartisan agreement on financial regulations, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) said he will advance his own legislation. Liberals want any new regulatory package to include a new level of bureaucracy: a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
* According to some projections, the Canadian dollar will surpass the U.S. dollar in value by this September. Since the beginning of 2010, the Canadian dollar has appreciated by 2.5% against the U.S. dollar.
* More young people are choosing vocational colleges after high school instead traditional four-year liberal arts colleges. A new study says this has positive effects on the economy and has the potential to reduce unemployment rates in the long term.
* Greece's spending problem prompted nearly 2.5 million workers to strike last week, halting transportation and sanitation services. They were, of course, protesting the government's austerity measures, not its profligacy.
* British oil giant BP has gained access to Brazil's offshore oil fields for roughly $7 billion, in an effort to increase production. Analysts believe the area is rich in oil deposits. Perhaps America can allow expanded offshore drilling as well.
Better start downsizing government now!
From the website of the Revolutionary Communist Party:
Nov 2, 2005: "Statement from [Democrat] Jim McDermott, U.S. Congressman from Washington To participants in the World Can't Wait actions today":
(rwor.org is the website of the Revolutionary Communist Party)
http://rwor.org/a/024/more-voices-from-november-2.htm
__________________________________________________
From David Horowitz's
FrontpageMag.com /DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
Profile: World Can't Wait (WCW)
*Revolutionary communist movement that stages protests against the Bush administration
*Organizes college and high-school students
*Founded in June 2005 by Charles Clark Kissinger, a longtime leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7213
We the people. PAYGO? Forget about it. Dismantle/defund/delegitimize corporate welfare statism and all other welfare collectives.
Impeach Barack Obama. Vote out all spendaholic bureaucrats.
...under the guise of exporting our welfare. "We will donate goods to foreign countries provided they buy US Treasuries that fund our debt," President Obama explained. "This will create much needed American Jobs," Robert Gibbs added at a recent White House press briefing. (Satire)
You don’t want PAYGO. The wars would come to a screeching halt.
Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766
Not if welfare spending was cut back significantly or eliminated altogether.
Defund/dismantle/delegitimize corporate welfare statism and all other welfare collectives. Defund the war on poverty. We lost.
makes ya wonder how many fake nails, hair extensions, gold teeth and $200 sneekers that works out to...
Benjamin Franklin - I want to say something about how he should be required reading and how he is great, and all that... but I guess I’ll just let him speak for himself and wish we had a Ben Franklin for our own time.
Defeat Obamacare call list: List now contains the new MAYBES culled from FR posts.
PLEASE CALL! DC OFFICE LOCAL OFFICE State District
Code Red” - House Target List on Health Care
The National Republican Congressional Committee has published a target list on health care. In addition to continuing to contact the five Tennessee Democrat Congressmen, you can go http://www.votervoice.net/link/clickthrough/ext/94697.aspx to contact some of these targets. Much of the talk following Obama’s announcement has focused on how to defeat this second bill through reconciliation, but that is misleading because the first step to defeating Obamacare is not by concentrating on defeating the “fixer” bill but by defeating the Senate bill in the House when it goes to the floor for an up-or-down vote on Thursday, March 18th.
Rep. Lincoln Davis 202-225-6831 Columbia office: 931-490-8699
Rep. Jim Cooper 202-225-4311 Nashville office: 615-736-5295
Rep. Bart Gordon 202-225-4231 Murfreesboro office: 615-896-1986
John Tanner (202) 225-4714, Union City, (731) 885-7070, Jackson Phone: (731) 423-4848, Millington (901) 873-5690 TN (MAYBE)
Rep. Steve Cohen 202-225-3265 Memphis office: 901-544-4131
Harry Mitchell (202) 225-2190 (480) 946-2411 AZ 5th District
Gabrielle Giffords (202) 225-2542 (520) 881-3588 AZ 8th District
Ann Kirkpatrick (202) 225-2315 (928) 226-6914 AZ 1st District
Jerry McNerney (202) 225-1947 925-833-0643 CA 11th District
John Salazar 202-225-4761 970-245-7107 CO 3rd District
Jim Himes (202) 225-5541 (866) 453-0028 CT 4th District
Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176 (407) 841-1757 FL 8th District
Bill Foster (202) 225-2976 630-406-1114 IL 14th District
Baron Hill 202 225 5315 812 288 3999 IN 9th District
Mark Schauer (202) 225-6276 (517) 780-9075 MI 7th District
Gary Peters (202) 225-5802 (248) 273-4227 MI 9th District
Dina Titus (202) 225-3252 702-256-DINA (3462) NV 3rd District
Carol Shea-Porter (202) 225-5456 (603) 743-4813 NH 1st District
Tim Bishop (202) 225-3826 (631) 696-6500 NY 1st District
John Hall (202) 225-5441 (845) 225-3641 x49371 NY 19th District
Bill Owens (202) 225-4611 (315) 782-3150 NY 23rd District
James Matheson Toll-Free Number 1 (877) 677-9743 (202) 225-3011Mike Arcuri (202)225-3665 (315)793-8146 NY 24th District
Dan Maffei (202) 225-3701 (315) 423-5657 NY 25th District
Earl Pomeroy (202) 225-2611 (701) 224-0355 ND At-Large District
Steven Driehaus (202) 225-2216 (513) 684-2723 OH 1st District
Mary Jo Kilroy (202) 225-2015 (614) 294-2196 OH 15th District
Zach Space (202) 225-6265 (330) 364-4300 OH 18th District
Kathy Dahlkemper (202) 225-5406 (814) 456-2038 PA 3rd District
Patrick Murphy (202) 225-4276 (215) 826-1963 PA 8th District
Christopher Carney (202) 225-3731 (570) 585-9988 PA 10th District
Paul Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (570) 825-2200 PA 11th District
John Spratt (202) 225-5501 (803)327-1114 SC 5th District
Tom Perriello (202) 225-4711 (276) 656-2291 VA 5th District
Alan Mollohan (202) 225-4172 (304) 623-4422 WVA 1st District
Nick Rahall (202) 225-3452 (304) 252-5000 WVA 3rd District
Steve Kagen (202) 225-5665 (920) 437-1954 WI 8th District
Bart Stupak (202) 225 4735 MI (MAYBE)
Brian Baird (202) 225-3536, Vancouver, (360) 695-6292. Olympia, (360) 352-9768, (MAYBE)
senator mark begich (202) 224-3004 toll free. (877) 501 - 6275 just became a MAYBE
Jason Altmire 202-225-2565, Aliquippa, 724-378-0928,
Natrona Heights, 724-226-1304 (MAYBE)
On the Bubble (Major developments from the “yes” and “no” columns in the House)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2467046/posts
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