Archive for the ‘Politics 2009’ Category
Just a few things from The Hill news service you might have missed:
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— Senate Democrats offer formula aimed at adjusting seniors’ benefits
— Congressional conservatives target welfare overhaul
— House Dems urge regulators to rethink Volcker Rule
— Cotton producers defend farm bill changes
— Watchdog halts dozens of mortgage-modification scams
— Prices drop for the first time since June
— Corporate execs say tax holiday can’t wait
— Top House Democrat demands explanation of penalties for late foreclosures
— Report: Top committee members rake it in from interested industry
— Builders’ outlook less gloomy on the housing market
— Mortgage applications fell 10 percent last week
One especially egregious practice We the people should somehow stop. I don’t know how we can stop the “buying” of congressmen and women but I do know the practice leads to a whole lot of bad behavior on the part of these Congressmen, high costs to the tax payers and the ultimate destruction of a nation. A commenter on this blog stated her desire to see all money taken out of elections and campaigns. I told her I very much agreed with her but human beings being the greedy pigs we are I had no idea how to do it. Oh, and that is greedy and HIGHLY INVENTIVE pigs!
This is and interesting and disheartening report:
Report: Top committee members rake it in from interested industry
By Bernie Becker – 11/16/11 10:48 AM ETDoes taking over the top spot on a House committee lead to a financial windfall for lawmakers? A new report suggests it does.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), looking at 10 separate House panels, found that the top Republican and Democrat had seen their fundraising totals from the industries they oversee grow at a steep rate between the 1998 election cycle and the 2010 cycle.
In all, CREW found, these chairmen and ranking members saw their industry contributions jump almost sixfold while their fundraising in general rose 230 percent.
The good-government group, which used data from the Center for Responsive Politics, suggested that its findings essentially show that industries are legally bribing top lawmakers.
“Congress would be a lot more transparent if it just put a for sale sign on the front of the Capitol,” Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said in a statement.
CREW found, among other things, that financial industry donations to Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the House Financial Services chairman, rose by 620 percent between 1998 and 2010 – more than two and a half times the jump in his total contributions.
Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture panel, saw a similar increase — a 711 percent jump in donations from agriculture groups, compared to a 274 percent upswing overall.
Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member at Financial Services, and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman at the Energy and Commerce Committee, also saw significant increases in industry donations.
CREW also said that their research found that committee leaders were sometimes more likely to vote in an industry’s favor than colleagues from the same party.But the group’s findings were also not across-the-board.
Peterson, for instance, voted 7 out of 10 times with industries regulated by the Agriculture Committee in 2007 and 2008, the same exact percentage as the average Democrat.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), now the ranking member at Energy and Commerce, also got more than 10 times as much from related industries in 2010 than he did in 1998. But Waxman’s overall fundraising grew by a factor of 11.
And Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, now the top Democrat at Natural Resources, saw his industry contributions jump by more than 2,500 percent in the dozen years examined.
Still, the $47,400 Markey received from industry groups in the 2010 cycle amounted to just over 3 percent of his total contributions. The Massachusetts Democrat had brought in $1,800 from those groups in 1998.
Comments (1)
Money has always been a huge part of our federal campaign system, and it’s one reason that this country is one of the most innovative and financially successful in the world. The problem is that some groups, such as the anti-American US Chamber of Commerce, seek to make campaign contributions on behalf of foreign corporations. That’s a practice that Congress needs to crack down on.BY New Englander on 11/16/2011 at 11:29
- In: American Crash 2011 | Big Labor Unions | Communism in America | Deficit Reduction Proposal | Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill | Economy/Money | EPA Environmental Protection Agency | Federal Reserve | Government Failure Series from Cato Institute | Government Failure Series from Cato Institute | Ineffective Government Programs | Laws and Regulation--stupidities | laws and regulations--stupidities | national deficit, taxes, national budget | National Politics | Obama and ethics | Politics 2008 | Politics 2009 | Politics 2010 | Politics 2011 | Progressives Movement to Destroy America | Redistributing wealth | Roosevelt and Obama | Subverting America by Uri Bezmenov | Taxes
- Leave a Comment
This Week in Government Failure | Cato @ Liberty.
This Week in Government Failure
Posted by Tad DeHaven
Over at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this past week:
- It’s darkly comical that the same entity responsible for killing countless private sector jobs with its taxes and regulations operates job training programs.
- Warren Buffett should put up or shut up.
- Two polls of likely voters released by Rasmussen Reports indicate that the federal government’s corporate welfare programs should be prime targets for spending cuts.
- (Wanted to make sure you saw the results of these polls.
Voters Don’t Support Corporate Welfare
Two polls of likely voters released by Rasmussen Reports today indicate that the federal government’s corporate welfare programs should be prime targets for spending cuts.
The first poll found little support for the Small Business Administration’s lending programs:
- A majority (58 percent) of likely voters said that the federal government shouldn’t guarantee loans issued by private lenders to small businesses. 23 percent said the government should back small business loans and 19 percent were unsure.
- A majority (59 percent) of likely voters said that reducing government regulations and taxes would be more helpful to small businesses than the government providing loans to small businesses that can’t obtain financing on their own. 22 percent said the government loans were better and 18 percent were unsure. ( I am definitely among the 58%! BB)
- Entrepreneurs particularly believed that reducing government regulations and taxes is preferable to government lending programs. 76 percent of entrepreneurs felt that way and 61 percent opposed government loans to small businesses that couldn’t obtain financing. (These are the people with the ideas People. So listen to them carefully because they are the movers and shakers of America. In fact, these people are almost uniquely America because America is (or at least ONCE WAS) the only place on earth where these people with ideas and dreams could make their dreams come true. Obamanation has brought this to a halt and is working hard to kill the entire idea of anyone in America having an original thought. BB)
(See this new Cato essay on why the Small Business Administration should be terminated.) (AGREED! BB)
Similarly, the second poll found little support for various federal corporate welfare programs:
- Only 15 percent of likely voters said the federal government should continue to provide funding for foreign countries to buy military weapons from U.S. companies. 70 percent were opposed and the rest were undecided. (Where in Hell did they find the 15%!??! BB)
- Only 29 percent of likely voters said the government should continue to provide loans and loan guarantees to help finance export sales for large corporations. 46 percent were opposed and the rest were undecided. (See Sallie James’ new Cato paper on why the Export-Import Bank should be terminated.) (I am sure this undecided vote was because the respondents could not understand the question. ONLY large well o0rganized and connected companies export their products and these companies surely do not need any tax dollars to do so as they will continue on their own if a profit is being made. I would like to say this practice will come to a halt after 2012 when we get a person with sense in the White House but congressmen on the company dole are not likely to stop anything that might annoy their buds. BB)
- Only 37 percent of likely voters said the federal government should continue providing farm subsidies. A plurality (46 percent) said farm subsidies should be abolished and 17 percent weren’t sure. (See this Cato essay for more on farm subsidies.) (Just for information purposes: the so-called “family farm” ain’t the family farm anymore People. The Family Farm is now BIGGGGGGG Agribusiness and just like any other business it certainly doesn’t need our tax dollars. But just play hell getting rid of it! BB)
- The Washington Post asks for budget plans. We have one. (No comments from me here because it ALL makes a lot of sense and I hope you go to all the sites referred and read carefully. BB)
- Despite Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s role in driving the housing bubble and $160 billion in taxpayer losses (so far), President Obama appears to be considering just putting the same failed system in place. (Did anyone really expect anything else??! By the way, Fannie Mae is the outfit that gave me the deal on my house. but it really wasn’t a deal at all, it was where the price of the house would have been if government had not gotten into the notion of everyone deserves and has a “right” to own a home and started making sure everyone got one regardless of if they could pay for it. the government getting in of course made the prices for houses go sky high. Just as the government getting into anything causes the prices of that good or service to go sky high—-haven’t we learned a thing yet? Those supplying the goods or service are not dumb and know they will get their price no matter where they set it. Government got into medical care with Medicare and Medicaid and doctor, hospitals, medical supply companies, health insurance companies and drug companies all sent their prices up by double digits for 40 years. Government got into education and colleges and universities went hog wild at the banquet of federal money via the students. As sure as the moon follows the sun and the sun follows the moon the big money will follow the government money. BB)
- In: American Crash 2011 | Communism in America | Constitution of the United States of America | Economy/Money | Federal Reserve | Financial Industry Reform | national deficit, taxes, national budget | Politics 2008 | Politics 2009 | Politics 2010 | Politics 2011 | Subverting America by Uri Bezmenov
- 1 Comment
Why is the Price of Gold is Exploding While Inflation is Rising.
(Go to this site and listen to the videos)
Here’s some information I first ran in this newsletter more than FIVE years ago. The numbers have been updated, but the overall situation remains practically unchanged.
Have you always wondered why the price of gold has more than doubled recently (now about $1,600 per ounce), silver has tripled (now $40 per ounce) and your paycheck isn’t going as far as you need it to?
Inflation is rising! In case you didn’t realize it, there has been a 300 percent increase in inflation since the 1970s. If you have been curious about these issues, you will really enjoy watching the two videos above.
One is a short animation arguing for re-introduction of gold as money because of its independence. The other is a 45-minute video tutorial from one of my favorite economic teachers — the Ludwig von Mises Institute — that explains how the fractional reserve banking is debased. It also discusses the central bank and how the U.S. government transitioned into the Federal Reserve System that scrapped the gold standard in 1933 and established a global inflationary system.
In 1970, the price of gold was $37 an ounce. Now, 41 years later, it is setting records regularly and is over $1,700 an ounce. Nearly all of the over two dozen experts I follow in this area are universal in gold surpassing $2,000 sometime by the end of this year or close to it and with potential to rise to $5,000 to $10,000 per ounce. That is not as high as you might think, as it has already increased by 50X since 1970. That is less than five times increase. Silver is far more volatile and may actually increase ten times its current value or more.
Once you view the video, you will see the Federal Reserve System is actually the cause of inflation and one of the primary reasons why your financial future is uncertain.
Dan Ferris – What could really happen if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling
Posted July 20, 2011
on:- In: American Crash 2011 | Deficit Reduction Proposal | Economy/Money | Know the enemies of America | national deficit, taxes, national budget | Politics 2009 | Politics 2010 | Politics 2011 | Privatization of federal projects | Progressives Movement to Destroy America | Redistributing wealth | Subverting America by Uri Bezmenov
- 9 Comments
Dan Ferris – What could really happen if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling.
Check out the two facts below and then you decide. BB
The U.S. government has about $2.88 trillion of total assets. It appears to have about $1 trillion in cash, stocks, bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and other liquid assets it could use to pay off Treasury debt. If that takes us through the end of September, we’d be able to go another few months, running the total debt back up to the debt ceiling of $14.294 trillion.
in the weeks and months that follow August 2, something unexpected would happen… something nobody in government wants you to know. You’d find out how much you don’t need the government.
For example, you’d find out that the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and a few others are completely unnecessary and a total waste of money. They’d spend only a couple hundred billion dollars out of a $3 trillion budget, but it would be a huge start on the way to showing you how unneccessary government is. Once that ball got rolling, it’d get harder and harder to stop.
Recent Comments