Well, it turns out that figure of $1 million is just a little low. By $4 million dollars, that is. Holy smokes. In this article, ACORN Embezzlement Was $5 Million, LA Attorney General Says, that figure is revised way up, and not by a reporter, or a politician with an ax to grind, as ACORN would not doubt claim, but the State Attorney General:

Louisiana’s attorney general has broadened the scope of an investigation of ACORN to include a possible embezzlement of $5 million a decade ago within the community organization, five times more than previously reported.

ACORN Chief Executive Officer Bertha Lewis said the new reported amount is “completely false.”

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has been conducting an investigation of ACORN since June. He issued subpoenas in August seeking documents related to former ACORN International President Wade Rathke and his brother Dale Rathke, who kept the group’s books. Those subpoenas were focused on possible ACORN violations for non-payment of employee withholding taxes, obstructing justice and violating the Employee Retirement Security Act. No charges have been made.

The attorney general had inquired in June into an alleged embezzlement within ACORN that happened 10 years ago. The group last year dealt with an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke made nearly $1 million in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. The brother and a donor repaid the money.

Did you catch that? A “donor” helped pay back the money. Dale was not formally charged, nor did he have to spend any time in prison. None. Now we know it was so much more money than previously thought:

Caldwell said last month that the statute of limitations presented obstacles to prosecutors taking action on the embezzlement, and that his investigation was not focused on that issue. The subpoena issued Monday changed the tone of the investigation and put a new emphasis on the embezzlement issue.

“Current high-ranking members of ACORN have publicly acknowledged that embezzlement did in fact occur, but the exact amount of the embezzlement was unknown until it was recently acknowledged in a board of directors meeting on Oct. 17, 2008, by Bertha Lewis and Liz Wolf that an internal review had determined that the amount embezzled was $5 million, ” the new subpoena says.

The subpoena says, “It is still unclear if some of the monies embezzled are from state, federal or private funds.”

The subpoena requests documents from Citizens Consulting Inc., a financial arm of ACORN, and from various accounting and legal consultants in New Orleans. Investigators are trying to verify the issues raised in the subpoena.

“We’re going to follow the evidence where it leads us and try to do the right thing,” said David Caldwell, head of the attorney general’s public corruption and special prosecutions divisions. “We are actively investigating the case, whatever the outcome might be. This is something we are devoting our full attention to.”

Wade Rathke, who was in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, referred questions to ACORN officials. Lewis said she would comment further after she and ACORN attorneys had a chance to review the subpoena.

ACORN board member Vanessa Gueringer, chairwoman of the Lower 9th Ward Chapter, said she had not seen the subpoena but that the accusation about the larger embezzlement was untrue.

“I believe it is another lie, another witch hunt, ” Gueringer said.

ACORN, which provides counseling on housing and other assistance to low and moderate income families, has been reeling from national negative publicity in recent weeks. Actions have been taken on the federal level and by many states, including Louisiana, to end public contracts with the group. (Robert Travis Scott can be reached at rscott@timespicayune.com or 225.342.4197.)

Now that’s some Major League Denial going on there, isn’t it?? The Attorney General of the State isn’t just making stuff up. He has actually been INVESTIGATING ACORN, and rightly so.

Let’s just do the math here. ACORN has received $53 Million of our taxpaying dollars. Dale Rathke embezzled $5 million from ACORN. Sure they get donations, but honestly – you don’t think some of that money was OURS???? And why is he NOT IN PRISON?? That’s what I’d like to know. Hopefully, he will be soon, thanks to the LA State Attorney General.

And that begs the question – where has everyone ELSE been on this issue? It’s not like it wasn’t public knowledge, and not like it hasn’t been reported in major newspapers across the country. I’m glad someone is doing his job.

And speaking of the Rathke Brothers, don’t forget that Wade is also the one who co-founded the SEIU, yes, the union that held California hostage. Well, you are not going to believe where their name pops up in connection to the White House. Check out this video, beginning at the 1:45 minute mark:

Holy smokes. The SEIU is working with the Wite House and the NEA to spend YOUR/OUR money on propaganda.

And we thought the Bush Administration was bad about the whole propaganda thing…

Recently, I reported that Rep. John Conyers had decided to investigate ACORN – again – after all of the recent revelations into their practices (not that many of us weren’t already aware of the numerous “issues” with ACORN). Well, it turns out that his Senate colleague, Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, refuses to do likewise. That’s right, according to this article in his local Las Vegas Paper, he has good reason: EDITORIAL: Reid Blocks ACORN Probe: Tracking abuse by political allies could be ‘distracting’. That’s right – it would be too distracting.

Are you freaking KIDDING me with that BS excuse?? Well, the Editorial staff of the Las Vegas Review Journal couldn’t believe it, either:

ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — is stinking up Washington.

And this is far more significant than if a suspiciously large number of operatives for a purely “private” outfit had been found systematically bending and breaking the law, because ACORN receives and spends taxpayer money — lots of it — and had carried the imprimatur of official partnerships with the IRS, the Census Bureau … the kind of “cred” that in the political world comes only from “who you know.”

Yes, ACORN has friends in high places — friends who are still stonewalling attempts to trace where all that tax money went … perhaps because they know who still has cookie crumbs all over their hands.

It didn’t start with those undercover videos made by a couple of independent filmmakers posing as a prostitute and her pimp, visiting various ACORN offices around the country and getting helpful advice on how to hide their income and “qualify” for a tax-subsidized mortgage to set up a house of ill repute, declaring three of their dozen (albeit imaginary) underage illegal immigrant prostitutes as “dependents.”

That was just a final shoe dropping loudly enough that the problem could no longer be ignored.

One would think, But apparently, it isn’t enough for Senate Majority Leader Reid, despite what happened in his own STATE:

Here in Clark County, Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said last year he saw “rampant fraud in the 2,000 to 3,000 registrations ACORN turns in every week,” with some 48 percent of those forms being “clearly fraudulent.”

The Las Vegas headquarters of ACORN, “a Democrat-allied organization,” was raided after being “accused of submitting multiple voter registrations with duplicate and false names,” the Washington Times reported last fall. The outfit claimed it had registered to vote in Nevada, among others, the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.

The raid “set off a skirmish over efforts to expand the electorate on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama,” the Times reported.

Mr. Lomax noted ACORN had hired 59 inmates from a work-release program at a nearby prison and that some inmates who had been convicted of identity theft had been made supervisors. “That led some local wags to joke that at least ACORN was hiring specialists to do their work,” reported John Fund at The Politico, last November.

ACORN’s 2008 Las Vegas field director, Christopher Edwards, pleased guilty last spring to two gross misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit compensation for registration of voters, in a deal that saw him agree to testify against fellow defendants.

So, tell me again just how it was that ACORN was going to receive BILLIONS of our dollars? This is just ONE county in one city, never mind the other states in which ACORN was conducting fraudulent voter registrations:

Fox News’ Eric Shawn reported there were at least 11 investigations across the country involving thousands of potentially fraudulent ACORN forms. Yet none of this was sufficient to block President Obama and his congressional minions from upping federal subsidies to outfits such as Mr. Obama’s former associates at ACORN from the mere millions to the billions of dollars in their “economic stimulus” bill last winter.

Only when presented with the undeniable evidence of the “pimp and ho” videotape did the IRS last week announce it would terminate ACORN’s participation in the agency’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program — shortly after the Census Bureau advised ACORN it could forget about helping with its decennial head count.

Smoke? Fire? Washington Democratic leaders have opted to just lay low and not smell nothin’.

Despite all this evidence and a request in writing by 28 GOP senators — and despite the fact the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 on Sept. 14 to block ACORN from bidding for any more federal grant money — “Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is refusing to hold a Senate hearing on ACORN’s activities,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee complained Wednesday.

Mr. Reid replied additional investigations might distract lawmakers from addressing more important matters, including health care and economic recovery.

I see – he’s taking the President Obama tack of not really acknowledging the rampant fraudulent, potentially CRIMINAL, behavior of ACORN by claiming there are bigger fish to fry. I don’t know about YOU, but I kinda think $8.5 BILLION is a lot of fish:

“It’s become increasingly clear that ACORN may have manipulated tens of thousands of ballots in last year’s federal election — an area where Congress has clear oversight responsibilities — yet Harry Reid won’t lift a finger,” said NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh. “It’s hard to see his latest roadblock as anything but another example of Harry Reid protecting his liberal allies in Washington while remaining out of touch with his constituents in Nevada.”

That’s a politically motivated shot, of course. Stripped of the gratuitous elbowing, however, the question does remain: Do Sen. Reid and congressional Democrats really believe that if they just ignore the big mess their pet bear has dumped in the middle of the room, it’ll somehow stop stinking?

Senator Harry Reid is up for re-election this coming year. If the people needed to know for sure if Harry Reid stood with them, or with a highly questionable, highly partisan organization receiving their tax dollars, and perpetrating fraud in their state, they need look no further. Yes, Harry Reid has finally grown a backbone, not to stand up for his constituents, or the American people, or even the Constitution, but rather a corrupt organization that has worked diligently to throw elections.

Wow, what a stand up guy he has turned out to be, huh?

Holy shit, right?? YOUR TAXPAYING DOLLARS!!!!! Can you believe this? It is simply mind bogging.

In related news, eleven warrants have been issued for ACORN workers in Florida. The charges? Oh, you can guess this one: voter fraud. Yes, arrests are already being made by state authorities and the FBI. As of this writing, six have been arrested, and they are searching for the other five.

Again, your tax paying dollars hard at work, courtesy of Barney Frank, Barack Obama, and the DNC.

UPDATE: This first video has the filmmaker, James O’Keefe, on it, talking about how “helpful” the ACORN people were:

And this one with Megyn Kelly and Andrew Breitbart. ACORN denounces this “gotcha” journalism, claiming that there was some convenient editing going on. Breitbart provides the FULL audio and FULL transcript at BigGovernment.com, and discusses it more fully below:

Did you catch that? How much money ACORN stands to get under the new Stimulus Plan?? Now you know how they are spending that money…

Axelrod puppet Barack Obama studies Axelrod puppet Deval Patrick as the latter offers empty slogans and gestures

David Axelrod manufactures commodities, not politicians: they don suits; they read teleprompters; they promise something new and unprecedented; but these newfangled objects cannot govern. No, I am not referring to Barack Obama, although this news does not bode well for Axelrod’s latest product; I am discussing Deval Patrick, who according to a 7News Boston poll has lost all credibility with the voters of Massachusetts.

Readers of No Quarter recall how Obama and Patrick read from the same script penned by David Axelrod.

I guess the voters of Massachusetts are finally experiencing a moment of disenchantment. Perhaps they now realize that all Axelrod’s commodities cum politicians can offer are “just words.” I quote the Boston Herald:

The survey of 400 registered voters – Democrats, Republicans and unenrolled alike – shows angry Bay Staters quickly losing faith in the state government, with Patrick taking the biggest hit.

Only 34 percent of those surveyed in the poll conducted for 7News by Suffolk University say the governor deserves re-election, while a stunning 47 percent say it is “time to elect someone else.”

Voters gave Patrick a 43 percent unfavorable rating and a 44 percent favorable rating. The rest are undecided….

Asked about Patrick’s job performance, 49 percent disapproved, 40 percent approved and 11 percent were undecided….

Patrick’s dismal poll numbers come after battering in the press over his naming of a senator pal to a costly plum post, raises for sheriffs, addition of two pricey staffers to the Pike payroll, embarrassing comments by his transportation secretary and his own dismissal of the controversies as “trivial.”

Aloof and oblivious to the cronyism of his administration, the incompetence of his Cabinet members and the apparent lack of ethics and fiscal responsibility he and his operatives are exhibiting, Deval Patrick is the ominous reflection of his political semblable Barack Obama.

No wonder why the NRSC has created the following advertisement:

The NRSC now knows what we have always known: Obama is just another Patrick. Indeed, he is just an updated version of a model everyone now knows is failed. He is, in other words, just so many ethereal words.

I am sure Obama will dismiss all the contradictions highlighted in the NRSC advertisement as so much trivia. He will probably claim that we cannot hold him accountable for what he promised during the campaign. After all, all he had uttered before the desperate crowds were “just words.” And I am sure he will become as aloof and oblivious as Patrick has as more and more voters lose confidence in his ability to lead as controversy compounds controversy. Commodities are alluring during a campaign, but they prove to be defunct the moment one tests their ability to govern. All that once appeared to be solid evaporates into so much hot air, I guess. The object that seemed so tangible in its promise provided nothing more than an impalpable mirage.

Obama is quickly becoming a Patrick, who from all indications is dead on arrival in 2010. Certainly if Obama continues on the path he has forged thus far, he too will be a flash in the pan, a wonder who lasted one term. This should be of no surprise, for he and Patrick are cut from the same cloth, hewn from the same block of wood, carved by the same Axelrod. And besides, his/tory has this tendency to repeat itself, rendering the past, the present and the future all into one grand, temporally suspended farce. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, would have made her/story. For she was not assembled in Axelrod’s toxic factory.

I’ll be honest upfront with my opinion. I see them as little parasites made from hijacked taxpayer dollars that members of Congress attach to totally unrelated bills for the purpose of impressing their own constituents. President Obama rallied against the considerable flab involved, but signed the 2009 omnibus spending bill anyway, with 9,309 (representing 7.7 billion dollars) little money suckers clinging to it.

I examined this long list of earmarks, searching for the most outrageous use of our “taxation without representation” at a time when millions are watching their jobs, homes, and retirement nest eggs disappear.

The first contestant was $200,000 for “tattoo removal” (Woodland Hills, CA). However, it’s not quite as nutty as it sounds. The idea is to remove gang and jailhouse marks for those who presumably want to try walking a more positive life path. However, Woodland Hills is hardly a bastion of gangs and crime compared to other parts of the San Fernando Valley. Yet I decided to let it pass.

Same for the 1.7 million for—ironically–controlling hog-created odors (Iowa). Jokes are being passed around about this one. But, if you have ever visited a hog farm you already know that an aroma exists that can cause you to hurl your cookies right where you stand. So, pig stench research didn’t rise to my level of “outrageous.”

The clear winner is a 5.8 million vanity project (one of the higher priced earmarks) to further bloat the ego of Senator Edward Kennedy. Whether you like him or not, you are supporting the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate (Boston, MA). Matt Viser writing for the Boston Globe, described the project status as of last August:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy and several of his closest friends have accelerated plans to build an institute near the John F. Kennedy Library that will be dedicated to research and education about the US Senate and that will use Kennedy’s lengthy political career as a case study.

The group has formed a nonprofit organization, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and is planning an aggressive fund-raising campaign that aims to raise at least $50 million and will be spearheaded by prominent Boston businessman Jack Connors.

Actual designs have not been drawn, but officials envision a 40,000-square-foot building, with construction beginning as early as spring 2009.

It is also clear that the original plan called for private donors to finance this project.

Connors said that in the spring, about two weeks before the senator’s cancer diagnosis, Kennedy called and asked him to head up a fund-raising effort. Connors has held several meetings to identify about two dozen “precinct captains” who will raise money. So far, the fund-raising group includes John Sasso, a veteran Democratic consultant; Thomas P. Glynn, the chief operating officer of Partners HealthCare; John Fish, president of Suffolk Construction Co.; and Kenneth R. Feinberg, a Washington lawyer and former Kennedy aide who ran the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

Connors said the group is also considering tapping Kennedy’s colleagues in the US Senate, asking them to call key political donors in their home state to raise money for the institute.

In the meantime Kennedy’s friends and former staffers had already collected 20 million from drug companies, hospitals, and insurance companies, which raises some ethical questions for Timothy Noah , writing for Slate. Senator Kennedy will be a central figure in President Obama’s health care plan. Might these donors expect favors?

Many of us admire the positive accomplishments of Senator Kennedy and are sorry he is so ill. But we didn’t volunteer to donate to his pre-memorial project. We are being forced into it when most of us have other desperate priorities. That’s what makes this earmark such a cheap trick to pull on us during such grave times.

The President says he is opposed to earmarks that sneak in, sometimes literally during the night, to raid our treasure.

The future demands that we operate in a different way than we have in the past,” Mr. Obama told reporters before signing the bill in private. “So let there be no doubt: this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability that the American people have every right to expect and demand.

Well, he caved this year. Let’s watch same time next year.

I end by noting that many, probably most, earmarks are not inherently evil. They say they will help repair roads and bridges, remodel museums, fund programs for children, and the like. (See them all for yourself here .)

But the whole process stinks in my book. There has to be a better way for states and districts to get federal aid for truly necessary projects that does not involve draining blood out of major congressional bills.

“You know,” said McCain, “there’s been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street and it is — people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult time. And I promise you, we will never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street. We will reform government.”

Obama jumped al over these comments, and mocked him repeatedly. And was assisted by his little liberal media girlfriends, like here, here and here.

Sen. Barack Obama seized on McCain’s assessment of the health of the economy, blasting the Republican for being “disturbingly out of touch” with the reality that everyday Americans face.

“I just think he doesn’t know,” Obama said in Grand Junction, Colo. “He doesn’t get what’s happening between the mountain in Sedona where he lives and the corridors of Washington where he works…. Why else would he say, today, of all days — just a few hours ago — that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong? Senator — what economy are you talking about?”

Those comments pretty much lost the election for McCain. Obama and his cheering squad turned McCain and Palin into a joke, making McCain appear too out of touch, and senile to grasp the realities facing every day Americans.

So, what did Obama do once he won the election? He scared the bejeezus out of Americans, and robbed them blind. List compliled from Flopping Aces:

“Americans know that our economic recovery will take years — not months.”
- Jan 31.

“I will tell you in terms of what is alarming right now is how fast the economy has been deteriorating…It keeps me up at night and it gets me up.”
- Feb 3.

“If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe.” -
Feb 5.

“If we drag our feet and fail to act, this crisis will turn into a catastrophe. We’ll continue to get devastating job reports like today’s month after month, year after year.”
- Feb 6.

“And our nation will sink into a crisis that at some point we may be unable to reverse.”
- Feb 9.

“…this is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession. We are going through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
- Feb 9.

“My administration inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion, but because we also inherited the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression…Those are deficits that could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.”
- Feb 9.

“And the fact of the matter is, is that we are in not just an ordinary recession.”
- Feb 10

“…the greatest economic crisis we’ve seen in decades.”
- Feb 20.

“We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression…”
- Oct 7.

He used fear to pass the biggest Generational Theft Act in history.

Obama then came out and said, the national crisis is “not as bad as we think it is”. The checks haven’t even be cashed, hell, written yet, and the economy is not so bad? Why the hell are we spending trillions of dollars, then?

So once the *stimulus package* is passed, and Obama and Pelosi got all the earmarks, and tasty pork they wanted, what does Obama’s top economic advisor say this week?

The fundamentals of the economy are sound.

“But on Sunday, that optimistic message came from economic adviser Christina Romer. When asked during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if the fundamentals of the economy were sound, she replied: “Of course they are sound.”

“The fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology,” she said. “We know that – that temporarily we’re in a mess, right? We’ve seen huge job loss, we’ve seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we’re in a – in a bad situation.”

And President Emily Litella speaking yesterday:

After meeting with Paul A. Volcker, one of his top economic advisers, Mr. Obama said, “There are a lot of individual families who are experiencing incredible pain and hardship right now.”

“But if we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy,” he added, “all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we’re going to get through this. And I’m very confident about that.”

The Times wrote:

Mr. Obama actually came close to using the same language that helped doom the campaign of his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain, who was hammered by Democrats last year for declaring that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Recognizing the danger in appearing too upbeat, however, the president and his advisers were careful to warn that recovery could take a long time.

Yes, they don’t want to appear too upbeat, they do have their sights on yet another Porkulus Spending Bill.

So, when McCain called the fundamentals strong, he was a senile old idiot, who didn’t know how many houses he owned, he was completely out of touch. But, after Obama scares the crap out of everyone, and gets away with a two trillion dollar multi-generational theft act, the economy is fundamentally sound?

Remember during the debates, when Obama was asked what he would have to give up, in order to save the economy? He didn’t say he would give up anything. And, he hasn’t, has he? He just keeps borrowing, and printing, more money.

Obama really needs to stop complaining that he *inherited* this mess. First of all, he bought this mess. He paid close to a billion dollars for this mess. Secondly, he helped create this mess. He voted, or didn’t bother to show up, for every vote in the Senate, that involved money, including funding the Iraq War, and stimulus packages, that I could find. He helped to create the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mess, and was one of their biggest recipients of cash. Remember when Barney Frank called the fundamentals of FM/FM fundamentally sound? That should have been mocked! Where was the media on that one? And Obama was closely involved with ACORN, even representing them in a lawsuit.

Obama did NOT inherit this mess. He helped create it. And what he didn’t create, he manipulated to further his agenda, to the tune of almost two trillion dollars.

Rahm Emanuele wasn’t kidding when they said, “never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

(If you haven’t read this article yet, The Sky is Falling, please do so: “Imagine a child falls down a well. Now imagine I offer to lend the parents my ladder to save her, but only if they promise to paint my house. Would you applaud me for not letting a crisis go to waste? Or would you think I’m a jerk, for want of a harsher word not printable in this space?”)

Obama managed to convince people he didn’t vote for the Iraq Resolution, and then convinced everyone we were in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Now he is trying to convince everyone he *inherited* this mess.

He is the biggest Bernie Madoff bamboozler, ever.

Now let me hasten to add that, by all means, the Speaker of the House, third in line of succession to the White House, needs to be able to fly to and from her/his district securely, especially in these dangerous times. BUT – it is the manner in which Speaker Pelosi is treating the Air Force as her personal valet service. And we are paying for it.

I’ll let the Judicial Watch president, Tom Fitton, lay it all out for you (if you don’t have time to watch the video, the link above contains the same information):

Everyone else is cutting back in these difficult times. Speaker Pelosi just makes excuses for her wastefulness. Again, she is entitled to this service, but it is the sense of entitlement with which she uses it that’s the problem: having it on standby and canceling at the last minute (unnecessarily); demanding a certain (most expensive) type of plane; and using it for her family as if it’s the family station wagon, to name a few.

Between this and the Pork House Omnibus Bill Obama is going to sign into law today (and then lecture us on earmarks – spare me already), it is kind of hard to take their “cinch up your belt” rhetoric seriously. Yes, Obama is going to sign the Omnibus Bill with over 8,000 earmarks in it, which he claims he just can’t change because it was written last year. Huh??? He calls it “imperfect,” but he’s signing it anyway!! Um, NEWSFLASH – you can VETO it, Obama!! Just more talking the talk but not getting close to walking the walk from Obama. Big surprise. Hahhaha! Oh, he said in that article that earmarks should receive more scrutiny, but given his wife benefited handsomely from some of HIS earmarks while in IL, there is no way he’s gonna call to abolish them altogether. Anyone who thought he would was just denying reality. Look at his record on it.

So, yeah – all the rest of us need to tighten up our belts, and make some changes. Our elected officials? Not so much. Oh, and Speaker Pelosi? We’re not buying your excuses, either. Stop treating the Air Force like your personal travel service and wasting our money. Obama, do you think you could keep ONE campaign promise?? Like on earmarks? Stop wasting our money already!!

Sheesh. Is it possible that all this time the Republicans have been calling the Democrats “tax and spend” Democrats, they were RIGHT??

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs 60 votes to close the debate on the $410 billion dollar omnibus spending bill and bring it to a Senate vote. As of this morning, he is one vote short. A few moderate Republicans that Reid was counting on have yet to climb on board. The GOP has some amendments of their own they would like to add to this bill and are trying to leverage their votes to push their proposals through.

Reid may just have to give in to some Republican demands, thanks to a dissenting vote from his own caucus. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a member of the Democratic leadership is voting no and is downright pissed off.

His anger has nothing to do with the massive spending by a government already in unfathomable debt or even the 9,000 plus earmarks attached to this drunken Capitol Hill spending spree.

What infuriates Menendez is that when his legislative aides read through the legislation online, they discovered language that eases restrictions on travel to Cuba and importing Cuban goods. Menendez would be the first to admit that he holds a minority view when it comes to dealing with the Castro government. As the son of Cuban immigrants, he has always taken a hard line on Cuban policy. He undoubtedly knew that with the Obama administration in charge, a change in policy was coming, but the way this was handled really has him steamed.

Shailagh Murphy reports in the Washington Post that Menendez even held off support on some administration appointees in protest.

“The process by which these changes have been forced upon this body is so deeply offensive to me, and so deeply undemocratic, that it puts the omnibus appropriations package in jeopardy, in spite of all the other tremendously important funding that this bill would provide,” the enraged son of Cuban immigrants said last week on the Senate floor. Menendez even slapped a hold on a pair of Obama nominees to draw attention to the issue.

Treasury officials, working with Reid’s office, continued yesterday to search for an administrative resolution with Menendez that would ensure a narrow interpretation of the legislative language in order to prevent gaping loopholes from developing. Menendez has pointed out that, had the bill sought significant changes in U.S. policy toward Iran or Venezuela, lawmakers would revolt. “What’s the difference with Cuba?” said Menendez spokesman Afshin Mohamadi.

No doubt, that Reid at some point will wrangle that last vote and everyone on the hill will have their pork and eat it too. He will even find a way to pacify Menendez. Yet, this little incident is just another reminder of why our government is broken to begin with. The Cuban issue is important enough to deserve its own debate on the floor. In typical congressional fashion, it was tacked on to a bill that had nothing to do with the issue. Whoever, added it to the omnibus spending bill was probably figuring that Menendez and his staff would not actually read the whole thing until it was too late.

It’s amazing what happens when your legislators have time (or at least their staffs have time) to read what they are voting on. The Menendez staff probably was going through this bill because lawmakers are starting to feel the heat after the e-mails and phone calls from angry constituents following the stimulus vote. They never expected Cuban policy to be part of the legislation they were reviewing.

Whether or not, the Cuban policy needs change is not the issue. The issue is that it shouldn’t have been in this bill in the first place. So good for Bob Menendez. Make Harry go find his vote somewhere else. It will certainly cost him.

The eruption of street protests around the country against the “stimulus bill”, as depicted in this video, certainly took me by surprise. I never expected anything like this so soon, if at all.

So what happens next? Is this the start of something that is likely to snowball? Will others take to the streets and join in to swell the voice of protest? Or will it all fizzle out as suddenly as it has begun?

Will the unions be next to protest against the new Administration’s policies, as predicted in this video?

In the past I have seen many protests by people from the left of the political spectrum, but how often do we see scenes like this from… I think it would be wrong to call it the political right, because it is obviously not only Republicans who are protesting against such massive expenditure in a bill that was voted for by people who had no time to read it, let alone digest it. Am I wrong in thinking these street protests are something new?

It will be interesting, to say the least, to see where we go from here. It will also be interesting to see if Youtube allows this video to remain where it is.

Ben Bernanke’s testimony over the past two days gives us our best clue yet about where the administration and the Fed are going with bank rescue. And the answer seems to be … nowhere.

Simon Johnson and James Kwak read it the same way I do:

This is another sign of the serious brainpower that has been expended on finding ways to avoid or minimise government ownership of banks, and to avoid the slightest possibility of offending shareholders – shareholders whose shares have positive value primarily because of the expectation of a further government bail-out.

And The Economist’s Free Exchange puts it bluntly:

At this stage, I joked, I’d be just as happy with them just saying, “We have a strategy, we will continue to inject capital to prop up zombie banks indefinitely. That’s pretty much the whole plan and we’re counting on it bringing the financial sector back to life someday, somehow”. Is it just me or is that pretty much what Ben Bernanke said yesterday?

No, it’s not just you.

Well, that’s good to know. I mean, it seems like a whole bunch of us have been saying this makes no sense, and we don’t want our hard-earned taxpaying dollars going down the drain, but we felt like voices crying out in the wilderness. Perhaps we are not alone afterall:

I’d add a political-economy point. Here’s Noam Scheiber, in the new TNR economics blog:

Yesterday afternoon I spoke to a senior Democratic aide in the Senate who repeatedly emphasized that, the way things stand now, it would be almost impossible to get another cent for the banks. Congress has “bailout fatigue,” the aide said.

Indeed. As long as capital injections are seen as a way to bail out the people who got us into this mess (which they are as long as the banks haven’t been put into receivership), the political system won’t, repeat, won’t be willing to come up with enough money to make the system healthy again. At most we’ll get a slow intravenous drip that’s enough to keep the banks shambling along.

More and more, it looks as if we’re headed for the decade of the living dead.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. But like I said, I’m not a major economist who won a Nobel Peace Prize. Krugman is and did, so I’m gonna listen to him.

So speaking of banks wanting more money, guess who is back at the trough asking for more money from us, the taxpayers I’ll give you a hint – it’s an alphabet company. Yep – you got it, AIG:

Hell freakin’ yeah, they’re back. Some nerve, too, if you ask me, especially after their lavish spending ways. They want us to continue to subsidize them when tey have not demonstrated any fiscal restraint or responsibility?? Are you kidding me?

And while I am on this topic, it is high past time for the Democrats to stop blaming this situation totally on the Republicans. I can understand WHY they are trying to convince everyone that they had absolutely NOTHING to do with this, but the reality is that they have been in charge of BOTH Houses of Congress for over two years now. Where was their oversight of the SEC, in its non-existent oversight of people like Bernie “Made-Off”? Where were they when Franklin Raines ran Fannie Mae into the ground (and Raines, who left in disgrace, was one of Obama’s advisers)? Where were they when Jim Johnson ran Freddie Mac into the ground (and we know where Tim Johnson is – he was on Obama’s Veepstakes Search)?

So, yeah – Bush was horrible – we know that. But for the past 2 years, the DEMOCRATS have been the ones in charge of the purse-strings and the oversight, so stop the blame game, start taking some responsibility, and STOP HANDING OUT OUR MONEY LEFT AND RIGHT!!! Enough already!!

And that ESPECIALLY goes for you, Nancy Pelosi, with this new $410 BILLION dollar package chock-full of pork the House is proposing!! ENOUGH!!!

We’ll be departing from “LD’s Central Station” on Saturday at 9:00 am EST until 12 noon to attempt to put some clarity into this madness!!

We thought the month of January was challenging but it seems we were just getting going. With the turns on the track getting ever more challenging, we will do our best to keep you informed and ahead of the curve.

Our train was packed last week so we will make sure to keep those extra cars. Make sure you board promptly, get settled, grab a coffee, and settle down for an engaging online Q/A chat as we “navigate the economic landscape.” Bring a friend along as well.

For our newer riders, your conductor is not a professional financial planner but merely a Wall Street veteran who welcomes sharing his instincts and experience.

While we board, let me preannounce that we will have a very special show Sunday evening on LD’s Dollars and Sense on No Quarter Radio from 8-9pm.

We have two very interesting guests joining us. Lynn Marshall has one of the most unique backgrounds in the world of finance today. How does one develop a background that includes senior level experience in investment banking, agriculture, and community banking? Think Lynn has some amazing perspectives on the economy and markets? Don’t miss him.

Additionally in light of the developments at Stanford Financial, we are very happy to have John Moynihan return to our show to discuss the dynamics in the world of offshore banking. Find out more than you could ever imagine by talking to these enlightened experts on LD’s Dollars and Sense on No Quarter Radio this Sunday evening from 8-9pm.

Aaaaaaaaaaaall Aboard!!

No doubt I will have the Obots screaming again about being partisan in siding with a Republican spokesman about the “stimulus package”, but GOP Congressional leader John Boehner raises a very important question:

How the hell can anyone have actually read all of the provisions in the 1,100 pages of the plan within the 12 hours before the House was called on to vote on it?

As Boehner points out, Congress voted for a bill that not a single representative had time to read before casting their votes.

The same, of course, goes for the Senate.

A manuscript of that size takes at least a week to read carefully, and even longer to digest before anyone can give a balanced judgment on its provisions. Even Tolstoy’s monumental opus “War and Peace” is shorter, and a lot easier to read and understand, yet even some of the most educated readers take at least a few days to finish reading this book.

What kind of democracy is it that will not allow its citizens to digest and understand a bill of this magnitude before it becomes law?

Of course the Obots will scream that, as the idiot Nancy Pelosi said, it was necessary to rush the bill through as quickly as possible to prevent any further decline in the economic situation.

What has happened, of course, is that a lot of socialist measures have been enacted behind a smokescreen of urgency, when the most important thing is not to rush into anything until all options have been carefully considered.

Careful consideration is the last thing this bill has enjoyed.

The giveaway bill to special interests Porkulus Stimulus Bill has been passed.

I would especially like to congratulate all the young Obama supporters, because you are all going to be paying this bill off for the rest of your lives, except for the part you pass onto your kids. Mom and Dad won’t be able to afford any more bright shiny objects for you or supplement your income pretty soon. So please enjoy your impending poverty little Comrades and Comradesses of Amerikan Edjukashion System, as we put off the inevitable for a little while, while the dollar plunges into an abyss and China gears up to say “No” next time we ask for money. And don’t forget the Big Two Out of Three auto makers will need their payroll met for another few months, So they will be vi$iting us all again $oon. And then they will visit us again April…and then….

So you see, somebody is going to have to pay for all of this in the future one way or another, little Comrades. ”Future” is a political term for “Next Generations,” used by smarmy elected officials who know they will be long gone when you are finally all grown up and cursing them for your struggle. But don’t worry! There will be more food stamps. And public housing. It’s in the bill just for you, to get you started. The Government will take care of you, so don’t worry. Personal financial advancement is sooooooo over-rated anyways.

I know, I know. All of this stuff is so……..boring!

Where’s my ipod???

But cheer up. You will get a tax rebate! $13 a week! Except if you don’t work. Then you will just get a lot of free stuff you think you won’t be paying for in the future. So, don’t forget to spend your rebate as fast as you can. Do not save this money. That’s greedy and unAmerican! Savers really suck! The important thing is that you owe money and still spend your rebate. Please do not screw this up by paying for stupid things like heat or credit card bills. Buy something cool that you really can’t afford. Let me repeat: Do. Not. Save. Your. Rebate. That’s selfish.

Ah well, maybe you can get Iran to help you all out with paying this all back for the next 50 years or so. Ahmadinejad is so sweet, really. Look how he helps out Hamas. All that nasty behavior and driving over Obama posters with cars is all an act. He’s really a nice guy. Honest! Don’t let that thing about the nukes and killing all Jews and infidels such as yourself for the Coming Of The Mysterious Savior put you off. I mean, don’t let the fact that the even Ayatolla Khomeini thought these zealots were nuts, and that’s saying a lot. But don’t worry. It’s all “Just words”. That’s why it’s a good idea to cut the defense budget. Now run along and watch a Reality Show and text UR friends. K? Thx!

And look at all the cool environmental things in the bill! You will be living in a box under the tracks in winter, praying for some real global warming, but the air will sure be cleaner, federal buildings will be looking so cool, the Smithsonian will look even better, although it already is pretty nice, not that you will be able to afford the trip. (”Stimulus” poster shamelessly stolen from Riverdaughter)

Guess what other stimulating things will happen? Important Golfers will have new electric carts, your TVs will have a better picture if you still have them, the place where you once worked will be safer and will even unionize, even though it’s going out of business. There will be job training programs though, to keep you busy since there aren’t any jobs. And I know that, even though you are an Electrical Engineer, you will enjoy planting grass at the National Mall that got ruined during the Inauguration. That is, if an illegal alien doesn’t get the job first, because the part about any jobs created going to Americans has been removed from the bill. Just saying. Word has it, though, that things are so bad here in Amerika, many illegal aliens are moving back to Mexico and declaring their Amerikan born kids as Mexican citizens. How bad does it have to get here for that to happen? Just think about it. I’ll wait….

But this stimulus bill offers plenty of Hope. All the people who are losing their homes will have broadband capability if they ever find another place they can afford to live in, “volunteers” will get paid, those new prison buildings will start to look good to you compared to living on the street. And….. universities you can’t afford to attend will get new buildings. Nancy’s Wetland Mouse won’t be evicted though! And don’t worry: Barney Frank is looking out for you again just like he did with Fannie Mae.

You can see how well this is all going to stimulate the economy in record time. And guess what, boys and girls? 53% of the money won’t even be spent until late 2011, just in time for Your President to make things temporarily look good for re-election. Like Magic! Not that he will even need to do that, because by then ACORN will have completed the 10-year Census so he can re-arrange Congressional Districts. Till then, well, what can I tell you? You’ll just have to wait. Eating and paying bills is so under-rated anyways, right ? Some things are just more important than you are. Like elections, for example. But don’t worry. The Weatherstripping Program will help you out by making sure that the cardboard box you will be living in is nice and air tight. Hey, I have an idea: Solar panels for cardboard boxes– with tax credits for the unemployed. But don’t be looking for the Fishes To Feed The Masses routine. This Messiah is going to be fresh out of fishes by then.

And here’s the best part: Nearly one third of the bill is dedicated to Health Care, with interesting wording like “Meaningful Users,” which, besides being downright scary, has nothing to do with stimulating the economy, but nevermind.

Of course, other stuff has been added to the bill, and stuff that was once removed was put back in it, but we don’t really know what, because nobody got a chance to read the revised bill. Not even Congress. They were given a hard copy of the new version. No PDF file to search for key words. Voting on something like that is kind of like when you go to a flea market and buy one of those Mystery Boxes. You don’t know what’s in it, then you open it up and Surprise! It’s a pile of crap you can’t use. I suspect this Mystery Box will be opened up within the next few days. But of course, it will be too late to tell the pubic what’s going on. That’s the idea.

Look at this guy, will you? Bitch Bitch Bitch.

I thought I might share some of the really interesting things in the bill, stolen from an RBO post entitled, Here’s What Generational Debt Looks Like. What a catchy title. I’m sure a few things have changed overnight, but you can bet none of them improved this bill’s status as economic ”Stimulus”.

(From RBO):

**********

Here are just a few items from MM’s “handy list of pork in the Sellout Substitute Amendment from the Turncoat Caucus”:

• $2 billion Blagojevich earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL.
• $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars.
• $3 million for purchasing “neighborhood electric vehicles” (golf carts).
• $5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ).
• $650 million for the DTV transition coupon program.
• $200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities.
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries.
• $75 million for the Smithsonian Institution.
• $750 earmark for the National Computer Center in MD.
• $224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission – U.S. and Mexico.
• $10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for lead paint hazard reduction.
• $39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout.
• $275 million for flood prevention.
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation.
• $255 million for “priority procurements” at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker).
• $650 million for abandoned mine sites.
• $1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA).
• $100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program.
• $1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though the original section only authorizes $1 billion for five years).
• $300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees.
• $500 million for State and local fire stations.
• $180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities.
• $500 million for wildland fire management.
• $110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• $522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• $500 million earmark for National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, MD.
• $100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings.
• $300 million for constructing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office buildings.
• $800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities.
• $307 million for constructing National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) office buildings.
• $1 billion for administrative costs and construction of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) office buildings.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corp. for National and Community Service.

Hillbuzz comments: “The above is not even 10% of the treasure Obama’s going to swirl down the toilet. It’s unprecedented, unimaginable, and reprehensible. Every last member of Congress needs to be held accountable for this.”

Blogger arturoafc54 adds some more loony spending requestsfrom the Spenderific Bill:

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

Definitely the longest list is Pro Patria’s, whose “long but hardly exhaustive list of stimulus pork is frightening, particularly when you realize it’s not even close to being the whole hog. Check these items out:

• $2 billion for rural business and industry guaranteed loans.
• $22.1 billion for rural housing insurance fund loans.
• $2.8 billion for loans to spur rural broadband.
• $150 million for emergency food assistance.
• $50 million for regional economic development commissions.
• $1 billion for “Periodic Censuses and Programs”.
• $350 million for State Broadband Data and Development Grants.
• $1.8 billion for Rural Broadband Deployment Grants.
• $1 billion for Rural Wireless Deployment Grants.
• $30 million for necessary expenses of the “Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership”.
• $300 million for a competitive construction grant program for research science buildings.
• $600 million for “accelerating satellite development and acquisition”.
• $140 million for “climate data modeling”.
• $250 million for “accelerating the development of the tier 1 set of Earth science climate research missions recommended by the National Academies Decadal Survey.”
• $50 million for repairs to NASA facilities from storm damage.
• $300 million for “Major Research Insrumentation program” (science).
• $200 million for “academic research facilities modernization”.
• $100 million for “Education and Human Resources”.
• $400 million for “Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction”.
• $4.5 billion to make military facilities more energy efficient.
• $1.5 billion for Army Operation and Maintenance fund.
• $624 million for Navy Operation and Maintenance.
• $128 million for Marine Corps Operation and Maintenance.
• $1.23 billion for Air Force Operation and Maintenance.
• $454 million to “Defense Health Program”.
• $110 million for Army Reserve Operation and Maintenance.
• $62 million for Navy Reserve Operation and Maintenance.
• $45 million for Marine Corps Reserve Operation and Maintenance.
• $14 million for Air Force Reserve Operation and Maintenance.
• $302 million for National Guard Operation and Maintenance.
• $29 million for Air National Guard Operation and Maintenance.
• $350 million for military energy research and development programs.
• $2 billion for Army Corps of Engineers “Construction”.
• $800 million of that is for biomass research and $400 million for geothermal technologies
• $1 billion in grants to “institutional entities for energy sustainability and efficiency”.
• $6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program.
• $3.5 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants.
• $3.4 billion for state energy programs.
• $200 million for expenses to implement energy independence programs.
• $300 million for expenses to implement Energy efficient appliance rebate programs including the Energy Star program.
• $400 million for expenses to implement Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Infrastructure Grants to States and Local Governments.
• $1 billion for expenses necessary for advanced battery manufacturing.
• $4.5 billion to modernize the nation’s electricity grid.
• $1 billion for the Advanced Battery Loan Guarantee Program.
• $100 million for “non-intrusive detection technology to be deployed at sea ports of entry
• $150 million for repair and construction at land border ports of entry.
• $500 million for explosive detection systems for aviation security.
• $150 million for alteration or removal of obstructive bridges.
• $200 million for FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter program.
• $325 million for Interior Department road, bridge and trail repair projects.
• $800 million for Superfund programs.
• $200 million for leaking underground storage tank cleanup.
• $50 million in grants to fund “arts projects and activities which preserve jobs in the non-profit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn” through the National Endowment for the Arts.
• $1 billion for states in dislocated worker employment and training activities.
• $500 million for the dislocated workers assistance national reserve.
• $80 million for the enforcement of worker protection laws and regulations related to infrastructure and unemployment insurance investments.
• $300 million for “construction, rehabilitation and acquisition of Job Corps Centers”.
• $600 million for nurse, physician and dentist training.
• $700 million for “comparative effectiveness research” on prescription drugs.
• $1 billion for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance.
• $2 billion in Child Care and Development Block Grants for states.
• $1 billion for Head Start programs.
• $1.1 billion for Early Head Start programs.
• $100 million for Social Security research programs.
• $200 million for “Aging Services Programs”.
• $2 billion for “Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology”.
• $430 million for public health/social services emergency funds.
• $5.5 billion in targeted education grants.
• $5.5 billion in “education finance incentive grants”.
• $2 billion in “school improvement grants”.
• $13.6 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• $250 million for statewide education data systems.
• $14 billion for school modernization, renovation and repair.
• $160 million for AmeriCorps grants.
• $500 million to improve processing of disability and retirement claims.
• $920 million for Army housing and child development centers.
• $350 million for Navy and Marine Corps housing and child development centers.
• $280 million in Air Force housing and child development centers.
• $3.75 billion in military hospital and surgery center construction.
• $950 million for VA Medical Facilities.
• $50 million for repairs for military cemeteries.
• $120 million for a backup information management facility for the State Department.
• $98 million for National Cybersecurity Initiative.
• $3 billion for “Grants-in-Aid for Airports”.
• $300 million for Indian Reservation roads.
• $800 million for national railroad assets or infrastructure repairs, upgrades.
• $5.4 billion in federal transit grants.
• $2 billion in infrastructure development for subways and commuter railways.
• $5 billion for public housing capital.
• $1 billion in competitive housing grants.
• $2.5 billion for energy efficiency upgrades in public housing.
• $500 million in Native American Housing Block Grants.
• $4.1 billion to help communities deal with foreclosed homes.
• $1.5 billion in homeless prevention activities.
• $79 billion in education funds for states.

Earlier Pro Patria noted $4.19 billion for ACORN and other bogus “community organizing” groups. No surprise here.

Here’s a selection from Armageddonoutahere’s blog post We See the Pork But Where’s the Beef?

• $380 million to set up a rainy-day fund for a nutrition program that serves low-income women and children.
• $300 million for grants to combat violence against women.
• $6 billion on university building projects.
• $15 billion expansion of the Pell Grant program.
• $4 billion Federal job-training programs.
• $5.2 billion for community development block grants and “neighborhood stabilization activities,” which ACORN is eligible to apply for.
• $4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24.
• $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”.
• $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”.
• $34 million to fix up the Commerce Department.
• $89 billion in Medicaid extensions.
• $36 billion in expanded unemployment benefits, this is in addition to the state-budget bailout.
• $30 billion for COBRA insurance extension.
• $20 billion for food stamps.
• $55 million for the preservation of historic landmarks.

Oh and one more thing. Here’s The President of the United States “leading by example,” telling YOU to live within your means. No $100 a pound Wagyu beef for you.

………………….

From my blog, Uppity Woman.

As we were watching this video, my partner said, “Wow, this would make a great drinking game!” even before Stewart said it (it’s even funnier that she said that since neither one of us drinks alcohol, and haven’t for years). And it would! I recommend, though, that you either make sure you play this game at home, or at the home of someone with whom you can spend the night, because you will get SLOSHED. So much for him being erudite, huh? Yeah…

So, If you find youself thinking about General Motors getting an additional $3.2 billion tax break on top of all the other billions it received previously, or how it includes $1.2 billion for “youth activities” (as in Obama’s Youth?) or that the amount for light rail is FOUR TIMES what it was in previous bills (now $8 billion) how the final bill included this provision:

Perhaps the worst part, however, appears in Section 1607 of the final bill. This section essentially says that if a governor refuses to accept stimulus funds allocated to his or her state, the state legislature can override the governor’s decision by passing a concurrent resolution. It means that governors, such as South Carolina’s Gov. Mark Sanford, who have said that they would not accept the money, could be overridden by their state legislative bodies.

You may just want to take another look at the video, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, and have at it.

Like they say, better to laugh than to cry, right?

This video, featuring Congressman Jack Kingston from Georgia, would be very funny if it wasn’t so scary. In it he talks, among other things, about Nancy Pelosi’s $30 million earmark to save California rats!

For those who are suffering economic hardships, Kingston suggests you go to Los Angeles and borrow some money from these rats, who can be found on Rodeo Drive sporting the latest in designer wear while sipping their cheese-laced decaffeinated lattes.

“They must be some fine looking animals. We don’t just spend money like that on just any old rats…,” he says.

“They probably wear flip-flops and sunglasses as they go to Saucelito for lunch and look out across the bay at Alcatraz and say ‘hey, is that where the Guantonemo prisoners are going to end up?’ Probably not, because that would be an earmark.”

He says there are at least $2 billion in “phantom” earmarks – projects for states that qualify as phantom earmarks because, unlike Pelosi’s earmark for the rats, there are no names attached to them.

He also calls attention to a “non-earmark earmark” to to study profit-making companies in American Samoa!