Stimulus Agreement: $789.5-Billion Price Tag

Man I am impressed only $789.5 billion.

Yet the John Cornyns of the Grand Obstructionist Party will continue to refer to the bill as “more than a TRILLION dollars”…

J.S.
After interest this bill will be more than a trillion.

plus, the WH still has to do their approipration request for 2009, and whatever they add (last heard it was close to 500 billion) add that to the stimulus and the number adds up…

JS: it will be over a trillion when you figure in the finance costs of over 300 billion. get informed dimocrat.

Great move, taking out tax cuts….that’s exactly what we need MORE of….stupid, stupid stupid…My country is being hung out to dry.

People need to wake up. This stimulus bill is going to destroy this country. The hope and change crowd does not know what they have done.

George can you be considered a journalist if you speak with Rahm every morning to discuss how he can frame the President’s message to the public? Do you think any of this is funny?

While President Barack Obama goes on the road to shore up slipping popular support for the $1 trillion stimulus porkfest that he ordered up from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Walt Minnick, a freshman Democrat from Idaho, is pushing a better idea: The Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START).
Minnick is a member of the Blue Dog caucus of occasionally conservative DEMOCRATS. His START plan is a $170 billion “bare bones” pure stimulus approach that would put $100 billion immediately into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans, then use the other $70 billion for basic infrastructure projects that create jobs. START requires that all funds not spent by 2010 be returned to the Treasury. START also stops stimulus spending when the nation’s Gross Domestic Product increases in two of three previous quarters, and all START payments are required to be posted on a public website.
Minnick introduced START as an alternative – just in case the legislative process stalls out, says press secretary John Foster. As one of the brave 11 Democrats who voted against Pelosi’s stimulus bill, Minnick explained to folks back home that he opposed the speaker’s version because it was so “Christmas-treed up” with wasteful spending, like $300 million for golf carts. Foster told The Examiner that the House leadership encourages members to do what’s best for their districts, so there has been no backlash. We’ll see how long that lasts.
If they bothered to cover Minnick, the media would have to report that a DEMOCRAT managed to scrape off 5/6ths of the current stimulus package in FAT AND WASTE. Minnick eliminated almost $700 billion from the current compromise bill in the Senate by just focusing on TRUE STIMULUS SPENDING and limiting the scope of the bill to a single year. That should get some attention, if not to boost Minnick’s proposal, then at least to do some comparisons between the two packages to highlight the pork-barrel spending and waste that Pelosi, Reid, and Obama want railroaded through Congress.

But does Pelosi end up killing a compromise in the end? Shaving what will probably end up as $100 billion of the package can’t sit well with the liberal crowd in the House.
http://www.political-buzz.com/

It will be over 1 Trillion….anyone ever heard of the cost of borrowing? Interest, anyone.
So, we reduced taxcuts/incentives…and increased spending. That makes a lot of sense….liberal social engineering sense.
I wonder if the healthcare takeover initiative is still part of the bill?
Maybe our three Republican squid spines will take this opportunity to use a little common sense and back out.

and poor Minnich was scolded.
i hope he stands firm and continues the good fight.
Minnick- next time speak louder and louder and louder eventually you will be heard.

“George can you be considered a journalist if you speak with Rahm every morning to discuss how he can frame the President’s message to the public? Do you think any of this is funny?”
So, talking to the White House Chief of Staff is *bad* for a blogger to do? On what planet do you live? I suggest reading another blog if you don’t care for George’s writing. You won’t have to go far, either. Rick Klein, on this website, is infinitely more biased than George is. And for your party. Just go read his blog, instead, you nitwits.

Hey, three squid spine Republicans…let’s support START.
It more closely aligns itself to Obama’s campaign promises. And it sunsets.
If we’re going to do something (government), let’s do that.
There’s your way out.

Silky,
Would you support Rep. Walt Minnick proposal ?

I fail to see what all the complaining is about… We had an escalading debt before Obama ever became President. There is no doubt that the deficit would have continued its growth no matter who was President. Better it be under Obama than McCain and pittbull girl.
And for whomever was listening to Obama as he campaigned… this is what he said he would do… He spoke about just this size Stimulus and that the Stimulus would be part of a 3 part plan of action to get the country upright again…
so… everybody… try just a little faith, support your President, because for a change we have someone in office who is the good guy… Not a Messiah, not a magician, just a really good guy…
Have some “Belief” and cool out, while we are, “Waiting on the World to Change”, as John Mayer sings.
It’s all gonna be ok…
Peace out

Any bill that allows the government to tell me or my family that we can’t have needed healthcare because someone else can use the money “more effectively” doesn’t deserve one iota of support.
The fact that it was snuck in in the dead of night at the last moment to avoid public knowledge and debate proves to me that it was done in bad faith.
Kill this bill. Kill it and start over and do it right this time.

To all you right wing puppets. When this bill does stimulate the economy are you going to be the first ones to admit that you were wrong. I doubt it,, since you can’t admit that it was your policies that got us into this mess.

since 2006 democrat retake congress, economy start going downhill. now Dem pres and congress economy still going downhill and getting worse…
i would support Minnick (D) START program, i think it is good, it helps us and it is not pork ladden.

“To all you right wing puppets. When this bill does stimulate the economy are you going to be the first ones to admit that you were wrong”
actually no. They are throwing money at the problem with TARP. If things improve its going to be because credit is flowing again (obama even said this during his speech, that the problem is that credit isnt flowing). His spending bill is nothing but a waste of money going to Dem pet projects thats going to create such a huge debt for us that i have no idea how it will ever be repayed. they arent putting a stop point in this spending bill so from now on we are going to be paying so much of our tax dollars to these Dem pet projects. its disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

Why hasn’t there been any reporting of the health provisions that they have slipped into a stimulus bill? These provisions will allow our medical treatments to be tracked electronically by a FEDERAL system. A new National Coordinator of Health Information of Technology will monitor our treatments to make sure our doctors are following FEDERAL guidelines for cost effective treatments. This is a sneaky to put health provisions into a stimulus bill that is being pushed quickly with little review. More about this needs to be discussed publically. I was disappointed it was not mentioned during Obama’s interview last night.

Why didn’t you mention that not a single republican has participated in conference? Seems like a significant part of the story, even if it is a fact you might not like to publicize.

What about tax cuts for “middle America”???????

leilani-
great post, i agree.
or at least put a disclaimer under his name and it has to be continious, not a brief 1/2 seconds
George Stephanopoulos
“democratic supporter & i got this info from Rahm this AM”
ABC credibility is going down the drains, shows in their ratings.
see SILKY you are outnumbered…

Silky it was announced, then they tried to downplay it by saying “oh they are buddies and been doing this for 15 years”
Rahm used to work for the clinton administration, same as Panella (sp-from CNN who is in on the morning calls) and Stephanounous all 3 are in the calls and all 3 are former clintonite and now obamaites. it is public knowledge not a secret…

Silky–”WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT HE HAS THESE CALLS?”– Sorry , its public knowledge.. daily conference calls involving Reid, Pelosci, Rahm and leading reporters from major news outlets including ABC, CBS and MSNBC..(its supposed to be part of this administrations “transparency” policy with the media.) I just love how the libs salt these sitews with their shills (silky) and don’t debrief them first.. or are you a freelancer??

hiding in the spendulus bill is this addition to socialized healthcare:
First, the federal government would establish a massive new database to capture the full medical records of every American.
Then, federal bureaucrats will careful read and analyze all of your most private medical information as they see fit, and use that information to grant or deny treatment to Americans.
This new program would empower federal bureaucrats to decide, based on elaborate mathematic equations, which procedures and treatment are worthwhile for you. If you are old, sick, or have conditions that are expensive to treat, the government can deny you treatment – even if you can afford to pay for it.
doctors would be penalized for not cooperating and it wotn matter if your private insurance or on the welfare programme

Georgie boy, I already told you -
YOUR CREDIBILITY WAS DESTROYED ALONG TIME AGO
NO ONE BELIEVES A WORD YOU (RAHM) SAYS
You did it to yourself. You are not objective. You are a national joke.
But, hey, Obama is President so don’t worry.
Georgie boy, Georgie boy
Ha Ha. You did it to YOURSELF!

Silky- it as Politico that broke the story.
Politico story broke the news that George Stephanopoulos, your Chief Washington Correspondent and the host of your Sunday morning news show This Week, has daily phone discussions with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, which help formulate and shape the thoughts of and messaging for the Democratic Party and the Obama Administration.
As stated in the Politico:
Everyone likes to deride the “conventional wisdom.” In fairness, though, the wisdom is not yet conventional at the moment it is hatched. And in any given news cycle, it is quite likely that Washington’s prevailing political and media interpretation — at least on the Democratic side — is being hatched on these calls.

i think Silky is George pet name on this Blog…
getting defensive Silky?

silky–”LOFL! Are you kidding me? We finally have an administration with an open line of communication and you want to spin it as a BAD thing? “– no one is spinning an open line of communication as a bad thing, but this type of inside communication translated then posted as objective journalism is a joke…how can you objectively report political news if your only sourse is a non public briefing with the people you are supposed to be reporting on? Does your boss let you write your own paycheck? Do your teachers let you grade your own papers?.. there is a reason for that.. and a reason that some lines should not be crossed when maintaining objectivity in journalism..do you get ? or are you the “special one”?

braith said –”I fail to see what all the complaining is about… We had an escalading debt before Obama ever became President. There is no doubt that the deficit would have continued its growth no matter who was President.”– true, but.. Under reagan it grew 1 trillion, 2 trillion under the first Bush, 2 trillion under Clinton and 4 trillion under the second Bush presidency.. Under Obama it has grown 2 trillion in 8 weeks AND many people believe that this bill will do little to fix the problem… no sooner had the vote on the bill been cast, but we hear the trreasury secretary give a speech in which he claims we will need to spend 2 trillion more on tarp— before we actually pass the normal government budget which will be 500 billion more…at least.. lets see, Bush increased the debt by 4 trillion in 8 years.. at the current rate, this administration will raise it in excess of 16 trillion in less than 4 years…

Silky,
“And gopalin…really? Sarah Palin? That’s like walking around with a giant sign on your back that screams, “I’m a DUMBASS!” If it’s a populist you want, you can certainly find somebody with at least half of a brain, can’t you? After witnessing the last 8 years, I understand the standards of the Republican party are quite low, but you can do better than her at least, can’t you? Seriously. C’mon. The thought of her anywhere near the White House is terrifying.”
Hmmm…more hate speech!!!!
anyway, since you seem incapable of doing your own research and just want to sit here and rant for everyone else to PROVE thing to you while you stoke the fires of partisnahip and hate,
Here is the Politico story.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18011.html
The calls are between the old Clinton gang, George, Rahm Emanuel , James Carville & Paul Begala. It’s beeb going on for about 17 yrs.
I see no huge issue here, this is no different than anyone in the media using the connections the form over a lifetime to help them get information on the days breaking stories.
Journalists (biased & unbiased) have been doing this for years & years!

Mike C—”I see no huge issue here, this is no different than anyone in the media using the connections the form over a lifetime to help them get information on the days breaking stories.Journalists (biased & unbiased) have been doing this for years & years!”–Problem is that a lot of folks DO see a huge issue here.. If “reporting” is posed as being possibly biased, then the public has a tendency to look at it differenly (like the difference between calling a novel fiction or non fiction)but when journalists blur those lines then we get what we now have.. A media stream that is far from objective.. Look at the last election..How many nasty things were said about Palin (look at the post above – since this opinion is formed from media bias) while ANYTHING negative about Obama was off limits.. no stories about his dealings with criminals, socialists, american terrorists, no hardball questions, while Mccain got derided about everything including what was a very honorable and heroic military career..”joe the plumber” got trashed in the media simply for standing up and disagreeing with Obama, while not a word was said about code pink people having protests on the floor of the Republican national convention… this lilt in journalism deprives america of what it needs to make GOOD decision for our country… and its a major player in our ultimate survival or destruction…

“i am happy with obama if mccain had died in office we would have been subject to her forceing us all to become christains or jailed we would have seen alot of species of animals hunted to extinction,and our air and ground and water would have tooken huge steps back to poluted…thank goodness she isnt anywhere near the whitehouse.
”
LOL…talk about liberal extremism!
it really is incredible, you guys win and you still spew hate, hate, & hate at anyone who disagrees!
To paraphrase…
I will fight to my death for your right to express yourself as a idiot!

“If “reporting” is posed as being possibly biased, then the public has a tendency to look at it differenly (like the difference between calling a novel fiction or non fiction)but when journalists blur those lines then we get what we now have..”
George was a senior aid to Clinton and was instrumental in getting him elected. Anybody who doesn’t understand that he is an influential Democrat is beyond help.
Palin’s position on God and creation is what scares me most. The dinosaur bit, in particular. She’s a crackpot. And don’t you remember the energy debacle during the campaign? That was one of my favorites:
While Alaska is a leading producer of crude oil, it produces relatively little natural gas, hardly any coal and no nuclear power. Its share of oil production has been declining sharply, and the state now ranks lower than Texas and Louisiana. Alaska is the ninth-largest energy supplier in the United States, accounting for a modest 3.5 percent share of the nation’s total energy production.
After nonpartisan Factcheck.org pointed out Palin’s error in her interview with Gibson, the governor revised her statement somewhat, limiting it to oil and gas. But data compiled by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) contradict her claim that she oversees “nearly 20 percent” of oil and gas production in the country. According to authoritative EIA data, Alaska accounted for 7.4 percent of total U.S. oil and gas production in 2005.
It is not even correct for Palin to claim that her state is responsible for “nearly 20 percent” of U.S. oil production. Oil production has fallen sharply in Alaska during her governorship. The state’s share of total U.S. oil production fell from 18 percent in 2005 to 13 percent this year, according to the EIA.
The McCain-Palin campaign did not respond to a request for an explanation.

Mike C — thanks ..nice comment.. T–”i am happy with obama if mccain had died in office we would have been subject to her forceing us all to become christains or jailed we would have seen alot of species of animals hunted to extinction,and our air and ground and water would have tooken huge steps back to poluted.”– Umm, first, no one in the republican party is promoting Christanity as a governmetn religion including Palin.. YOUR party howerver..IS promoting the removal of anything religious from all portions of government which in effect means that YOUR party is pushing government sponsored atheism down OUR throats.. so get off your high horse on that one..I hunt, and support controlled sport hunting to INCREASE the wildlife population and INCREASE the overall health of herds through selected controlled sport hunting.. MY stance on hunting has done more FOR animal populations and quality of life than your stance against it has BY FAR..finally, the vast majority of “sportsmen” in this country teach respect of the environment and support its preservation.. what exactly has Palin doen to indicate that she does not support environmental awareness..?

Any oil in ANWAR would go to OPEC. And most experts say it’s not a lot and that it’s too labor intensive to extract. It’s essentially of no consequence at all to her stature as a politician that ANWAR is in her state. She’s a fool. Find another populist who can walk and chew gum at the same time and people might listen. But it’s not her.

This is a sad day for America.
This joke will get rammed through and the country will suffer for a very long time.
It doesn’t do anything except line the pockets of some cronies. Why don’t we just print 10trillion dollars and give everyone 1,000,000 if the answer is spend spend spend. I wont need the government anymore. I will have enough right? Print the money and give it away NOW..

oh and Silky- Palin was awesome!
Biden on the other hand is a heart beat away from the presidency and continues to be a laughing stock, by the way, where is Obama hiding him now? i haven’t seen him in a long time…
our Harvard grad super smart president is sooo intelligent that he stutters at everything he says, it’s a complete embarrassment. our popular “pop start” president rating is sliding down hill..

By the way silky,
Do you now understand the scenario about the phone calls ?

“our Harvard grad super smart president is sooo intelligent that he stutters at everything he says, it’s a complete embarrassment.”
I’ve probably heard the man talk for a total 20 or 30 hours since his 2004 speech at the DNC and I’ve still not heard this stutter that the right keeps talking about. Regardless, a stutter has nothing at all to do with intelligence.
“SILKY- i guess if republicans “hate”, then democrats cheat at taxes, pay to play.. basically they are frauds under multiple investigations. they have no morals”
Don’t forget the big one…exploit the living crap out of the middle class and poor Republican voters again and again and again, preying on their complete naivete on every subject.

“Do you now understand the scenario about the phone calls ?”
Sort of. Somebody mentioned that all the major outlets are on the call. Is that the case? If so, then what’s the issue? Otherwise, unless somebody has evidence of Rahm and George exploiting George’s position (not that Karl Rove didn’t have similar relationships at Fox, mind you) it’s all speculation. At face value it’s simply a former senior aide to a past President writing a blog. What’s the big deal?

Silky–”Any oil in ANWAR would go to OPEC. And most experts say it’s not a lot and that it’s too labor intensive to extract. It’s essentially of no consequence at all to her stature as a politician that ANWAR is in her state”–You just made my point about the lack of knowledge coming out of our public schools.. Anwar’s (which is in Alaska and a Part of the US) oil would be OURS…its called DOMESTIC drilling (do you know what the definition of domestic is??) And most experts say its over at least a 30 to 50 yr supply that is less expensive to drill than most domestic reserves and is of major consequence to the US supply not just her state… wow.. why do i even try with you???

Silky,
Is it Chris Matthews or Keith Olberman that is using you as the dummy in their ventriloquist act?
The old “only we democrats really care about you” is getting really old. You care so much you screw the people every chance you get! Schumer is living proof. Make the packages so big, that our little pork pie projects can slide thru.
And we have media with their “dummies” on the blogs running around screaming what difference does 1% make….
LOL, yeahm your looking out for all of us alright.
Gotta head out now and go see the accountant and do the taxes.
Oh…I forgot, Democrats & liberals do NOT PAY taxes, they just raise them!

arkie vet | Feb 11, 2009 3:18:17 PM….It is ours; but, I believe I’ve read that it would be shipped to Japan or China because of shipping cost considerations. However, in case of an emergency, I think we could direct it for use in the US.

Any oil in ANWAR would go to OPEC”
I couldnt let this one go by….
You rant about Palin…. You have no idea what ANWAR is or WHERE it is!!!
yeah, maybe you need to go back and brush up on those MSNBC talking points, you obviously missed the class on ANWAR!!!!
Where would ANYONE with even a sinlge brain cell left, come up with “Any oil in ANWAR would go to OPEC”
deanbob,
dont bother, right now silky is googling the entire internet trying to come with any rationale that the left has thrown out there to not use ANWAR.
of course, in Silky’s world, apparently all the oil in the US just goes to OPEC!!!
the last thing in the world any of these liberals are going to agree to is job creation that could help the economy as well !

Silky,
Sarah Palin? That’s like walking around with a giant sign on your back that screams, “I’m a DUMBASS!” If it’s a populist you want, you can certainly find somebody with at least half of a brain, can’t you?
I guess you can keep that sign and wear it for about the next four years! we all know if Palin had made a statement like that, you would be using it here constantly!!!
Gotta go, try not to hurt yourself while thinking…remember even a liberal mind is a terrible thing to waste!

“of course, in Silky’s world, apparently all the oil in the US just goes to OPEC!!!”
Jesus H. Christ, you’re one of the most desperate people I’ve ever encountered.

“You rant about Palin…. You have no idea what ANWAR is or WHERE it is!!!”
What are you talking about? I know exactly what it is and where it is. And I also know that it’s ANWR, not ANWAR. And my OPEC comment was based on a comment I read a few years ago that said essentially it would have the same effect on domestic oil prices as it would if the oil just went into the OPEC reserve. Which is true according to just about everybody.
“I guess you can keep that sign and wear it for about the next four years! we all know if Palin had made a statement like that, you would be using it here constantly!!!”
Yeah…um…I’m not running for Vice President on a ticket with a guy who actuarial tables say has a 33% chance of dying in office.
Seriously, man…go get a hooker or something…you’re blocked. Like bad.

Silky–”In the population at large, I agree. But among the population of people who read and watch him?” — problem is that its the population at large and not just those who read and watch him that votes….

Some of you all are just unbelievably silly. The country is in recession. Do what has to be done and get of it. If it means passing this bill then do it. I believe some of you don’t even know what is really going on. You just read silly comments and add to the silliness.

silky — and yes i know its ANWR though ANWaR is the acronym.. i’m in trouble if your are going to hold my tying against me.. bottom line.. all this got bantering got strated with the question of whether or not htis was an unbiased report.. the reality are that there are much bigger fish to fry… I could care less that this is an unbiased or biased report.. what i care more about is that fact that i am watching a country that i have loved my entire life dissapear right before my eyes.. capitalism being replaced with socialism, private sector generated wealth of and by the people being replaced with a government controlled nanny state, people being convinced that the ability to overcome and excel is not within their power or control, but within the power of the governement to control us.. all you folks on here that think like silky.. defend the current actions with our economy.. take a hard look at what you are readily giving up in the HOPE that things will get better.. Are you really willing to let someone in congress decide whether on not you receive medical treatment just so an extra 15% of the population can have coverage? Are you willing to let congress decide who does and does not fail instead of letting the money flow to the public and letting success and failure be determined by ability? Are you so invested in the need for a “safety net” that you would give up individual freedom and the ability to excel based on your own ability? remember that our constitution never promisd everyone happiness.. but it did promise the pursuit of happiness which seems to be what this administration and today’s democrats are trying very hard to take away from us…

arkie vet, I was talking with Mike_C about the silly missing the acronym. I mistyped it myself apparently. Of course, I’m not holding that against you.
Listen man, I love this place, too. But the economists are all saying that we need to spend this money. Most of them anyway. Most have minor squabbles over the particulars, but everybody seems to agree that the government needs to step in.
I’m not buying that the government is all of the sudden now in control of who gets what done, because of this bill. No freaking way. We’ll see, because the details are going to be brought to light in the coming weeks.
“but it did promise the pursuit of happiness which seems to be what this administration and today’s democrats are trying very hard to take away from us…”
You’re being overly-dramatic. This is a very serious threat we’re facing and just hanging out and letting things work themselves out is not at all a popular idea. In fact, I don’t know anybody in favor of that. Not even anybody on the Hill.

Obama all the way—”The country is in recession. Do what has to be done and get of it. If it means passing this bill then do it. I believe some of you don’t even know what is really going on.”– Have you read the bill?? tell me how a spending bill that dedicates 88cents of every dollar to non stimulus spending will help? the tax breaks will have some affect, but the infrastructure programs by and large will not kick in until 2010 or 2011.. How will that help now?? representative Minnick (D)(ID) took the same base line from this bill and added ONLY the tax breaks and infrastructure spending (only that stuff that would actually help the economy) and the total on his bill was $174 billion.. which means that this bill WASTES $615 billion tax payer dollars and will do nothing to significantly stimulate the economy for nearly 2 years.. the white house’s own economic study counsel states that the recession will correct itself in two to three years with NO assistance.. so how does this bill help?

Silky –”But the economists are all saying that we need to spend this money. Most of them anyway. Most have minor squabbles over the particulars, but everybody seems to agree that the government needs to step in”– Actually that incorrect most economists (andI’ll give one glaring example that i ahve already eluded to in an earlier post) do not agree that this bill is what we need. the Kinsington institute on economics studied this bill and determined that less tha 12 cents of every dollar spent had any stimulative affect. And almost half of the actual stimulas portion (40%) was set up in infrastructure spending that was not scheduled to take affect for over a year (2010 – 2011 depending on the program). To your second statement –”This is a very serious threat we’re facing and just hanging out and letting things work themselves out is not at all a popular idea. In fact, I don’t know anybody in favor of that.” — It is serious, but if you pass a bill that has little to do with stimulus ans more to do with “pork” and the actaul stimulus is not immediate, then aren’t you in affect doing NOTHING. As far as popularity goes Rassmussen now reports that 56% of Americans oppose this bill and a growing percentage support doing nothing as being less destructive than adopting this bill..
Never in the history of this country has increased government spending ended a recession.. it has time and time again increased the length and depth of existing recessions. the only thing that will end or even soften a recession is PRIVATE SECTOR spending since that is what runs our economy.. to make a metaphor — If the engine is stalled, repainting the car will not make it run..

A nice post by “blackie” above!!

How this stimulus bill will magically transform the country into a socialist state is beyond me. We have enormous unmet infrastructure needs, unmet health care needs, unmet education needs–needs that are met by the private sector but in many cases have always been financed by the government. This bill makes the federal government a big fat giant CONSUMER of goods and services produced and performed by the private sector. Part of it is to keep the wolf from the door until that much touted “it’ll fix itself in 2-3 years happens,” and part of it is to invest in future productivity because we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them. It’s inefficient, ineffective, and unsustainable. And right now, people getting ahead aren’t the ones working hard and performing well–they’re the ones who run good companies into the ground, who mislead shareholders and defraud consumers, who take unconscionable financial risks and are rewarded even if things go kaplooie. They accumulate massive personal fortunes regardless of how well they perform, while the average person’s income declines regardless of how well he or she performs. That’s our system. That’s not capitalism. That’s privilegism. And it’s weakened us.

Arkie Vet is not quite correct with this: “Infrastruture is a State responsibility not a responsibility of the federal government.. interestingly enough.. if you take a look at the states who have the worse infrastructure problems, crime rates, unemploymnet and budget concerns, they are and have been democratically held for a number of years… (Arnold notwithstanding — he’s a republican in name only).”
I have traveled all over the US — crime, infrastructure, and unemployment are not the evils of the democratic governors. Look at SE states controlled by Republicans for the past several decades. Their records are not good. You may say they had democrats who messed up the things. How about MA or RI or NJ. These are traditional democratic states. Do they fare worse than many of the Republican states?

Fairness –I have traveled all over the US — crime, infrastructure, and unemployment are not the evils of the democratic governors. Look at SE states controlled by Republicans for the past several decades. Their records are not good”– Lets see, New York crime rate and infrastructure and employment improved under Quomo, and have steadly declined under the current democratic leadership.. california is so bad that they are giving out IOU in lieu of state refund checks this year.. Chicago.. that doesn’t even need an answer.. and as far as NJ — i lived there for a few years back in the 80′s and it worked much better under a republican than a democrat.. can’t speak for MA or RI, but the southeast acroos the board has better results with republicans than democrats in most areas… Arkansas who had Clinton as a governor and then the republican Huckabee operated better under Huckabee..Louisiana was held by democrats for 40 years and their infrastructure was trash (remember katrina and the levies) they now have a republcian governor and finally are making progress… you are entitled to your opinion and so am i.. but compare states that have been held by republicans over the past 30 years with those who have been held by democrats and see who seems to be fairing the best…don’t take my word for it, ia m confident that if you look, you will see for yourself…

This is the biggest government theft I’ve ever seen. I am so ashamed that President Obama is behind this and is letting this travesty go without any bipartisanship for the rest of the county who didn’t vote for him. There is only 37% of American that supports this pork package, that is not a good poll number. If President Obama were really wanting a change with his term then he would scrap this horrid injustice of a bill and put together a true bipartisan committee of equal amounts of democrats and republicans to start at the core of the problem and then put in what else would help get the economy the jolt it needs at this very moment, not in two years or more like President Pelosi is saying. Why not get rid of payroll taxes immedieatly and just see how fast the economy bumps up with people having more of their hard earned money and buying more.

And another thing I don’t think the president should take all that is going around as a blow to his personal credibility
My observation is that other parts of the world seem to be copying what has been occuring here. Britain is an example – most of the bankers out there now have a new phrase “I am sorry”
I hope more peple will step up and take responsibilty for their failings.
I remain hopeful and optimistic – if the President can turn his life around and get to his current position – so can we. Stimulus or no stimulus we will pull through -
By the way I am in support of all the renewal and infrastruture projects. If you feel the project in your state is “Pork” demand that your state rejects it

As usual the Obama Fan Club AKA
the liberal news media has it wrong!
The passage of the so-called
stimulus bill is Not a Victory for
President Obama! It was a Given.
He had vast majorities in both houses
of Congress so how is this a “Victory”?
If the bill’s passage had been in doubt
it would have been a victory to get
it passed but that was not the case.
This pork laden, wasteful spending,
non-stimulative bill belongs exclusively
to Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and last
but not least, Nancy Pelosi!
Time will tell if they were right to
rush this bill through without even
reading it.

Arkie vet: you’re wrong. Republican controlled states are not doing well at all. California has a Republican governor and Republicans are destroying our economy by holding up a state budget that is putting our state in the red and the wheels are coming off our economy. And our state has had Republican governors almost continually for the last 30 years. So your little thing about Republican controlled states doing well is hogwash. I have a friend in Mississippi and she can’t even get basic services because their governor and legislature don’t believe in helping poor people. She can’t get a taxi even in her home town and there is little help for people who are low income. So don’t give me this Rush Pigbaugh talking point which doesn’t pass muster.

I am a little put out with the Obama plan. Why does he think that only certain citizens are entitled to benefit from his plan? I happen to be one of the few people I know who has savings, a job, a home and am not in foreclosure at the moment. As a result, all of my family and friends who are having trouble come to me for money/loans to make ends meet since banks aren’t an option and their credit is maxed out. And yet here I am still paying a 40% tax rate and getting stripped of any investments by the stock market. I am keeping at least half a dozen friends and family off of public assistance and out of foreclosure. I am not rich and at this rate don’t have much of a chance of becoming rich. It is the right thing to help people in a time of need. But why does our new President not recognize that WE ALL NEED SOME LEVEL OF HELP NOW. Not just those who made poor decisions that the rest of us will be paying for – for many, many years to come. How about a temporary tax reduction for the rest of us as well?

There is a lot of talk about people who purchased home loans they were not qualified for but I don’t see any conversations about those who purchased homes they could afford and have lost them or in danger of losing them due to there being devalued as the mortage increases. What is the point of paying that loan when the value of the home will never reach your loan amount. You will pay for 30 years and the economy and home prices may never rebound for you to get out of being upside down. So you will be paying rent for life on a home that was over valued, a mortage that contained varible clauses put forth by banks and mortage brokers as reasonable and responsible.
We go crazy over the people who wanted more then they could afford but what about those who brought modest home, they could and can afford. What they can’t afford is for the mortage industry to inflate prices of homes,then devalue property and cheat the middle class.

Stretching beyond limits – going the extra mile
Sometimes you are so hell bent upon making a difference and so sure of your motives that you are ready to bet your life on them. With a deep desire of helping my countrymen and women, by providing a dependable support system to the veterans I desire to give back something in lieu of so much that I got from my country and from the community. Just to keep things in perspective I would like to state at the outset that I am a disabled veteran and the path I am embarking upon in order to help you may lead to loss of my 100% veteran disability benefits and pay, but still I have already started making long strides on that path. But this is not the right time to talk about personal hardships.
Dear friend, our country is in a deep crisis; we are fighting a war against terrorism and a war against an unprecedented economic meltdown. Families are being shattered, jobs are being lost, freedom is being restrained and businesses are being shut down. The horizon continuously seems to be bringing upon our skies the dark clouds of uncertainty and gloom. Fortunately we have the intellectual and physical ability to counter these adverse circumstances as we have been countering our enemies with unshakeable resolve. We just need some means, we just need some directions, and I have been spending considerable amount of time devising those means and figuring out the directions. With all this wealth of information and knowledge that I have gained I want to help you, even at the cost of losing my veteran disability benefits and pay.
The Internet has immense potential. Even when more than 90% of average American households are connected to the World Wide Web the online economy is still at a nascent stage. So much is being achieved and so much more can be achieved provided we can all come together and work jointly, made possible by this miraculous state of connectivity we have been blessed with. It is this connectivity that I want to use in order to reach out to you and extend a helping hand and join hands with those who want to come along and help the others.
I have great ideas that I am going to share with you on this blog. In fact the TV promos of those ideas have already been broadcast during the Larry King, Anderson Cooper 360, and on other networks with high views, which basically establishes the authenticity, verification and the power of the idea.
Interested to know what I’m talking about? Stay tuned to this blog and my website and do get in touch either by e-mail or by phone. Let us come together and change things for better.