Cutting Some Costs, Balking on Others

I guess Stan Johnson isn’t going to be invited to any of the Wednesday Night Austerity Parties at the White House.
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No Conga line dancing at the White House for him.

Vilsack, the former Governor of Iowa, said that officials at his agency have started teleconferencing instead of traveling for meetings,
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Is this one of the things President Obama will be discussing in Columbus on Friday?
Or will VP Biden talk about it at the AFL-CIO winter conference in Miami tomorrow? Maybe he can talk to the union heads about the benefits of teleconferencing when their members are having to tighten their belts.

“they had identified more than $18 million in savings that can be saved from modernizing their financial systems.”
Similar to the plans to save money in Iraq by not continuing the troop level and operational tempo of 2008 indefinitely, they’ve decided to not patch Y2K bugs for the next 20 years, et voila.

Obama telling them to check out things when Obama keeps hiring TAX CHEATERS into the top positions of the federal government.

We’ve identified this savings and we’ve identified that savings. lol
Oh, look there’s another possible cost savings.
However, no word that any of these “identified and possible” cost savings have actually been cut.
Except the lone 400k USDA contract apparently awarded to a Republican. lol

The future is always tomorrow….

“how’s that ‘invest social security in the stock market’ idea look now….”
You obviously don’t even understand what you are criticizing. The plan proposed was for giving anyone the option to participate and participation was limited in the amount you could invest.
What do you see as wrong in letting people make decisions of their own free will? Do you have a nanny who makes all your personal and financial decisions?

What is wrong with pork spending? The reason people want pork is because of the perception that somebody ELSE is paying for it. A pork project may have some virtue, but that does not mean the federal government should pay for it. For example, spending $300,000 of federal money for the Montana World Trade Center (in the Omnibus bill) may be of benefit to Montana, but even assuming it is, why shouldn’t Montanans pay for it themselves? If it is not worth their tax dollars, then why should it be worth mine. The federal government should spend tax dollars only for things that benefit the nation as a whole or that cannot be effectively done by states or private interests. Sending trillions of dollars to Washington in tax revenues only to have it sent back for parochial projects is unavoidably inefficient and gives politicians the power to control federal largesse, which is what opens the door to corruption. If federal politicans didn’t control so much local spending, there would be far less reason to try to influence them. Another example in the Omnibus bill is $2.2 million for the center for grape genetics in NY. Presumably that will provide some benefit to grape growers and winemakers–let their trade association fund it–especially when we have to borrow the money to do it!

As Jake reported earlier today, there is $8 billion in earmarks in the omnibus bill.
Jake further reported that although the administration is acting like there is nothing they can do about those earmarks, the bill is being considered and negotiated right NOW.
So there most certainly input the president COULD have if he chose.
But Obama is once again lying when he says to Americans he will trim the fat and earmarks.

I hope everyone likes that new energy tax we’re all going to pay.
Obama promised last year that electricity prices “would necessarily skyrocket”.

Is this for real? Team Obama announces TRILLIONS of new spending and then trots out a spokesman to brag about cutting $400k?
This has got to be some sort of political parody.
OBAMA LIED, THE ECONOMY DIED.

“Obama promised last year that electricity prices “would necessarily skyrocket”.”
Actual quote:
You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.
They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

“I hope everyone likes that new energy tax we’re all going to pay.”
Title of John Boehner’s Leader Alert
“Dems’ Energy Tax: The Administration’s Budget Hikes Taxes on Every Single American ”
Sections are then copy and pasted to this blog.

The omnibus spending bill, which is currently making its way through the Senate, is “the culmination of the legislative business from the previous fiscal year and the previous Congress,” Gibbs said.
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It’s not too late to fix this bill. Our economic situation is different than when this bill was put together last year.
It’s time for change. Change the bill to match current economic conditions and begin the task of better stewardship for the future.

Ryan dear -
Once again, I’m quoting from the newspaper. Maybe they are quoting John Boehner.

Sigmonde:
‘the plan’ was to give their pals on wall street more money to steal, …… just like they gave their
buddies all that mysterious sub contracting war work in Iraq…. you obviously don’t understand the reality of the situation

President Obama: Please veto
this bill!
Earmarks are for re-election of Congressman and Representatives. Vetoing this bill is a vote for your re-election! Your second term is in the bag – don’t talk us out of it. Follow through on your campaign promises, and fight the old guard. We are with you!
Warmest regards

Ryan C, glad to see you pulled out the whole quote, so we can clearly see that candidate Obama said EXACTLY what Peach said he said. What point are you making by giving us the context? It does not change the fact that he admitted that what he then wanted to do and now is proposing to do is going to be extremely expensive. Is this something we seriously should be doing in the face of the current extremely fragile economy? He is touting his tax cuts for 95% of working families as a way to help working families deal with the recession and begin to rebuild their economic foundation. Then he turns around and touts a measure, with your apparent approval, that will wipe out any gains from those tax cuts and far more. You do surely agree, as he pointed out, that the costs of the cap and trade system will be passed along to consumers, right?

How do we get the tax payers to buy a swing set for our kids?
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I bet you wonder why mo one pays any attention to you. Your so negative I feel sorry for you. Not Really
The playground equipment, paid for by the Obamas, was installed early this afternoon by the South Dakota swing set company, Rainbow.

“How do we get the tax payers to buy a swing set for our kids?”
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Again, the swing set purchased by the Obama family – try to get your implications and facts correct. Some people get so much wrong it’s hardly worth reading their comments. Your agenda is showing.