"Fed. Govt. Helped Pay Home AC Bills for Fed. Employees, Prisoners, & > 11,000 Dead People"

Fav. Quotes at the end of article:

FreedomOSpeech: "Through out our nation's history, the Democrat party has by far been the most successful at appealing to dead voters."

dixiesuzan: "Well, one wonders exactly where a dead person is who need air conditioning."

LOL

clipped from www.cnsnews.com Federal Government Helped Pay Home Air-Conditioning Bills for Federal Employees, Prisoners and More Than 11,000 Dead People (CNSNews.com) – According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government helped pay the home air conditioning bills for more than 11,000 dead people, 1,100 federal employees, and 725 convicts in fiscal year 2009. The payments were made by a $5 billion program known as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP is designed to provide federal assistance, administered by the states, to help people pay the energy bills to heat their homes in the winter and cool them in the summer. The funds are disbursed by the Department of Health and Human Services and are distributed based on a formula that takes into account a state’s weather and the size of its low-income population.

Article Link: "The President of the European Central Bank is Calling for a One World Economic Structure"

clipped from www.bible-prophecy-today.com

The President of the European Central Bank Is Calling for a One World Economic Structure

Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, has called for global governance of all financial institutions saying it is extremely necessary if the world wants to prevent another financial crisis like what is happening today. Trichet emphasized that politicians, economists, and financiers must work together and collaborate on methods to create an international set of standards and that through this global governance the resiliency of the global financial system can be assured.

Economic & Social Ideologies: Capitalism

Capitalism usually refers to an economic & social ideology “in which investment in & ownership of the means of production, distribution, & exchange of wealth is made & maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations.” In other words, you earned it, you keep it. “Labor, goods, & capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in new technologies & industries; & wages are paid to labor.”

“Economists usually put emphasis on the market mechanism, degree of government control over markets (laissez faire), & property rights, while most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor, & class.”

Support:

• Economic growth: increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), improved standards of living (better availability of food, housing, clothing, & health care), decreased number of elderly & children in the work force & a decreased number of hours worked per week, increased opportunities for people to rise above their current conditions
• Political freedom: “transactions in a market economy are voluntary, & the wide diversity that voluntary activity permits is a fundamental threat to repressive political leaders & greatly diminish power to coerce.”
• Self-organization: Friedrich Hayek described self-organization thusly, “From transactions between buyers & sellers price systems emerge, & serve as a signal as to the urgent & unfilled wants of people. The promise of profits gives entrepreneurs incentive to use their knowledge & resources to satisfy those wants. Thus the activities of millions of people, each seeking his own interest, are coordinated.”
• Moral imperative: Ayn Rand said that a laissez-faire capitalism “allows people to be free to act in their rational self-interest.”

Criticisms:

• Religious criticism & opposition: Jews, Christians, & Muslims have been critical as to this form of economy leading to greed & selfishness
• Tendency toward oligopoly & monopoly: many critics have associated capitalism with an unfair distribution of wealthy, cultural exploitation, & repression of workers
• Environmental destruction: “Environmentalists have argued that capitalism requires continual economic growth, & will inevitably deplete the finite natural resources of the earth, & other broadly utilized resources.”

Economic & Social Ideologies: Communism

Communism is, according to Dictionary.com, “a system of social organization in which all economic & social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a singe & self-perpetuation political party.”

The idea of collectivism has been traced back to antiquity. Many relate back to the mention of such practices in Plato’s The Republic, Spartacus’s uprising against Rome, Thomas More’s Utopia, & some even consider the Sermon on the Mount to be referring to a collective society. However, Communism’s true birth occurred after the French Revolution. During this time in history, the terms “Communism” & “Socialism” were used interchangeably.

Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engles “firmly tied communism with the idea of working class revolution conducted by the exploited proletariat (or the working class).” (Wikipedia)

“Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human society, which would be achieved after an intermediate stage called socialism, & through the temporary & revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. Communism in the Marxist sense refers to a classless, stateless, & oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce & what policies to pursue are made directly & democratically.” (Wikipedia)

“Most influential leftist & socially critical theories either develop Marxism further, (e.g., social democracy, Leninism, Maoism, & Trotskyism), or completely drop Marxist ideology and do not set the creation of classless society as their aim (e.g., the modern feminism, New Labour, environmentalism). Therefore the words Marxism & communism are usually understood as synonymous.” (Wikipedia)

Lenin led the Bolsheviks in taking over Russia from the Czars after WWI leading to the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922. Stalin took Lenin’s place in 1924 after he died from a stroke despite his warnings against Stalin. “Once in power, Stalin carried out multiple purges of dissidents & left communists/opposition, particularly of those around Leon Trotsky, & established the character of Communism as the totalitarian ideology it is most commonly known as & referred to today.” (Wikipedia)

After WWII, Communist regimes started sprouting up all over Central & Eastern Europe & China. After the Cold War & several events that exhibited the people’s unhappiness with the Communist ideal, most of the European Communist governments suffered utter collapse in 1989 with the Soviet Union following suit two years later.

Communism is still alive & well today. “By the beginning of the 21st century, states controlled by Communist parties under a single-party system include the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, & Vietnam.” (Wikipedia) Several countries including the Republic of Moldova & Cyprus have leaders who belong to Communist parties. South Africa, India, & Nepal all have very active Communist parties &/or politicians. The Socialist Workers Party(SWP) in Britain, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) in the US, & the New Anticapitalist Party in France all continue to grow in adherents.

In the map below, "The Red states represent Communist governments aligned with the Soviet Union. The Yellow states represents Communist governments aligned with the People's Republic of China (besides China itself, there were only three: the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, Democratic Kampuchea, and the Somali Democratic Republic). The Black states (North Korea and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) represent the Communist governments that were not aligned with either."

Economic & Social Ideologies: Intro.

I hear, & occasionally use myself, words like “Socialism” & “Communism.” To be honest, I did do some research on those two words a few years ago because I heard people use them interchangeably & I wasn’t really sure if they meant exactly the same thing so I do know there is a slight difference. However, I want to know a little more about them plus others.

When I started my “Forms of Government” series I thought about adding “Socialism” & “Communism” to the series but the more I researched them, I found that they don’t fit exactly into the category as a “form of government.” Yes, they are forms of government but they are also economic & social ideologies.

Most countries follow one of the forms of government I mentioned in my series & also follow another economic & social system. For example, here in American we follow a Constitutional Republic with a Capitalistic economic system.

There a many different types of social & economic ideologies but essentially most of them can be categorized into one or more of the three main forms: Communism, Socialism, & Capitalism. And, those are the three main systems I am going to cover in this series.

I wanted to add, Fascism, Leninism, Nazism, Marxism & others but soon the list grew out of hand &, really, many of these are just different forms of each other & not fundamentally different. So, I decided to keep it simple & just go after the 3 major categories.

• Communism
• Socialism
• Capitalism
  

Politics/Economics: "Obama repeats lie that 'all economists' agreed stim bill was necessary."

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Obama repeats lie that 'all economists' agreed stim bill was necessary

Writing in the Weeky Standard Blog , Stephen Hayes points to Obama's interview in WaPo where he repeats, for the umpteenth time, the lie that "all economists" believed some kind of stimulus package was necessary to save us from a "Great Depression:

Right. Except for these 200, a list that included several Nobel laureates. What makes this fib by our president especially galling is that the content of the ad taken out by the Cato Institute that listed these economists. It began by correcting Obama's claim, on January 9, that "there is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help jumpstart the economy."

The economists wrote: "With all due respect, Mr. President, that is not true."

The president is not only a serial liar but when he's not lying he's exaggerating, like when he says that Republicans don't have any new ideas on what to do about the economy or health care.

Politics: How the White House spends money.

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Gov paying over a half million dollars a pound for sliced ham?

According to Recovery.gov, the new Obama website showing us how much the country is being stimulated by government spending, the taxpayers are buying sliced frozen ham at $550,000 per pound. I wonder what they would pay for fresh ham?

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Recovery.gov: $1.4 million to repair a door?

First it was frozen sliced ham for $550,000 a pound. Now, Recovery.gov is found to show paying $1,444,100 to fix a door.

Biden must have been in charge of these projects.

Politics: A couple of more visualizations on Obama's lovely budgeting

clipped from www.youtube.com

The Obama Stimulus: Predictions vs. Reality

When pushing the stimulus package, President Obama claimed that the stimulus would save 3 million jobs. How have his predictions turned out so far? This video compares those predictions with how the jobs numbers have actually turned out

clipped from www.youtube.com

The National Debt Road Trip

How do the Obama deficits compare with past presidents? And how did the national debt get so big anyway. This video tries to answer those questions by looking at the debt as a road trip and seeing how fast different administrations have been traveling.

Politics/Economics: "Green Economics: $100 MM to save $1 MM?"

clipped from greenhellblog.wordpress.com

Green economics: $100 MM to save $1MM?

President Obama yesterday hailed Nellis AFB’s $100 million solar power system because it saves the Air Force $1 million per year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Too funny.

Great Video: Uncle Jay -- 5/11

Politics: "Obama Repeatedly Reminds House GOP of Their Zero Stimulus Votes"

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com

Obama Repeatedly Reminds House GOP Of Their Zero Stimulus Votes

In a meeting with House Republicans at the White House Thursday, President Obama reminded the minority that the last time he reached out to them, they reacted with zero votes -- twice -- for his stimulus package. And then he reminded them again. And again. And again.

A GOP source familiar with the meeting said that the president was extremely sensitive -- even "thin-skinned" -- to the fact that the stimulus bill received no GOP votes in the House. He continually brought it up throughout the meeting.

Obama also offered payback for that goose egg. A major overhaul of the health care system, he told the Republican leadership, would be done using a legislative process known as reconciliation, meaning that the GOP won't be able to filibuster it.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com

Congress has until October 15 to pass health care or student lending reform under the normal process. If it doesn't, reconciliation can be used to eliminate the 60-vote requirement.

Another GOP aide said that Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a back-and-forth about the zero votes. Obama argued that House Republicans had made a "strategic decision" to oppose the stimulus, while Boehner countered that Obama hadn't accepted House Republican input on the bill.

"Fast-tracking a major legislative overhaul such as health care reform or a new national energy tax without the benefit of a full and transparent debate does a disservice to the American people," said McConnell in a statement. "And it would make it absolutely clear they intend to carry out their plans on a purely partisan basis."

Politics: "Obama's Stealth LeapTo Socialism"

clipped from thebulletin.us

Obama's Stealth Leap To Socialism

President Barack Obama showed his hand this week when The New York Times wrote that he is considering converting the stock the government owns in our country’s banks from preferred stock, which it now holds, to common stock.

“Preferred” means that these stockholders get the first crack at dividends, but only common stockholders can actually vote on company management or policy. Now, by changing this fundamental element of the TARP plan, Mr. Obama will give Washington a voting majority among the common stockholders of these banks and other financial institutions.

And whoever controls the banks controls the credit and, therefore, the economy. That’s called socialism.

With bank profits up and financial institutions trying to give back their money, there is no need for the conversion of the government stock from preferred to common — except to advance the political socialist agenda of this administration.

Humor: The Onion's take on the current financial issue

Politics: Obama's budget cut put into perspective.

clipped from www.cafehayek.com

Audacious Theater

You report that President
Obama today "challenged" his cabinet to "cut the budget by $100
million" ("Obama to Cabinet: Cut $100 Million from Budget," April 20).
What courage. A President who proclaims the importance of making "hard
choices" calls upon his government to trim away a whopping one
thirty-six-thousandth of its projected expenditures for the year - or,
alternatively reckoned, one twelve-thousandth of its projected budget
deficit.

To put this budget "cut" in perspective, suppose that
the typical American family, earning $50,000 annually, plans this year
to run a budget deficit proportionate to the deficit that Uncle Sam
will run. Such a family would plan to spend $75,000.

This family would declare
- surely with much fanfare - that it will reduce its planned
expenditures for the year by $2.08!

Who would take such a gesture to be anything other than audaciously insulting sarcasm by the chronically irresponsible?

Politics: Well, the House passed that 90% taxation of big banks.

First, our politicians seem to "rush" everything lately. Which gets them into these problems in the first place. If you rush things, you'll get sloppy & that is certainly what happened here.

Second, our government hears about someone getting money & they have to quickly figure out how to get that money from that person before it ever reaches their hands. Can't let America prosper now, can we?

Politics: "Obama compares AIG, big banks to 'suicide bombers'"

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Obama compares AIG, big banks to "suicide bombers"

Why is it that liberals can compare just about any political opponent they wish to terrorists but when it comes to fighting the real thing, they wilt?

Our president is campaigning in California, trying to sell the public on his massive $3.8 trillion budget. Here's what he said at a town hall meeting:

"Here's the problem," Mr. Obama said, "It's almost like they've got -- they've got a bomb strapped to them and they've got their hand on the trigger. You don't want them to blow up. But you've got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger."

Maybe we should send our president to the Middle East. Just think how many lives he could save by talking down suicide bombers in Israel, Iraq, and other places.

My favorite quote from the article:

"Maybe we should send our president to the Middle East. Just think how many lives he could save by talking down suicide bombers in Israel, Iraq, and other places."

Politics: "House to vote on 90% tax for AIG bonuses"

clipped from news.yahoo.com

House to vote on 90 percent tax for AIG bonuses

The House is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would levy a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to employees with family incomes above $250,000 at companies that have received at least $5 billion in government bailout money.

"We figured that the local and state governments would take care of the other 10 percent," said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Edward Liddy, who was brought in last year by the government to run AIG, told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the company was contractually obligated to pay the bonuses but that some of the recipients have begun returning all or part of them.

"The fact is that the bill the president signed, which protected the AIG bonuses and others, was written behind closed doors by Democratic leaders of the House and Senate. There was no transparency," said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

"President Barack Obama, who took office just under two months ago, told reporters Wednesday that his administration was not responsible for a lack of federal supervision of AIG that preceded the company's demise."

"But Obama added, 'The buck stops with me.'"

First he says "not responsible," then he says, "The buck stops with me."

Mr. Obama, if "the buck stopped with" you then you would have taken responsibility. That is what it means by "the buck stops here."

Also, what the heck do you mean "not responsible?!" You signed the bailout bill that kept AIG & the other huge "banks" from filing bankruptcy.

Basically, Washington is saying, "Here, save your company, but don't honor your legal contracts or take care of your employees."

But really, what do you expect from a President that doesn't want to take care of his country's military when they are injured protecting him & his freedoms. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Stay tooned. hehe Trust me, there is much more to come.)

I think it is crap that many of these guys/gals would take bonuses after what their institutions have gone though this last year, however, the government levying such taxes is criminal.

I applaud those that have chosen to give back their bonuses. I know I would be tempted to "take the money & run."

So, "CHEERS" to those returning the bonuses & "JEERS" to the government trying to control everyone & everything. This country is becoming more Orwellian every day, it seems.

Politics: Bailout corruption stories abound.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

13 firms receiving federal bailout owe back taxes

At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday.

The House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight discovered the delinquent taxes in a review of tax records from 23 of the firms receiving the most money, Lewis said as he opened a hearing on the issue.

"If we looked at all 470 recipients, how much would they owe?" Lewis asked.

Banks and other firms receiving federal money were required to sign contracts stating they had no unpaid taxes, Lewis said. But he said the Treasury Department did not ask them to turn over their tax records.

The revelation is sure to spark outrage on Capitol Hill, where the House is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would impose steep taxes on employee bonuses at firms that have received bailout money.

See, this is what happens when you are in a hurry to do something. More mistakes.

Of course they said the owed no taxes. They are a bunch of crooks, why would they admit to it?