● Obama's economic team considering new stimulus package... ● Kabul Bank called on Thursday for intervention by the United States to head off a financial meltdown.... ● Health insurance tax credit likely to affect small part of small-business workforce... ● Mixed reaction to new FEC rules on candidates, interest groups working together... ● Maryland Democrat Sen. Currie indicted on charges of taking bribes... ● Summer of Economic Discontent ... ● CBO Update... ● Obama administration appeals stem cell funding decision despite US Law... ● Gloom for Democrats as they look to November... ● U.S. troop deaths in Afghan war up sharply...
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When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; When the government fears the people, there is liberty.  ~ Thomas Jefferson

 

Entries Tagged as 'A Threat To America'

Obama’s economic team considering new stimulus package

September 2nd, 2010 · Deception, Democrats, Money Lost, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Stimulus, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Terrorism from Within, Treason

White House considering major tax breaks for businesses, sources say

By Lori Montgomery – Thursday, September 2, 2010; 5:33 PM

With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama’s economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according to two people familiar with the talks.

Among the options are a temporary payroll tax holiday and a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, say people familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe private deliberations.

Permanently extending the research credit would cost roughly $100 billion over the next decade, tax experts said. And depending on its form and duration, a payroll tax holiday could let businesses keep more than $300 billion they would otherwise owe the Treasury.

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Kabul Bank called on Thursday for intervention by the United States to head off a financial meltdown.

September 2nd, 2010 · Democrats, Federal Spending, Foreign Policy, Non-Transparency, Tax Dollars, Taxes, War on Terrorism

Nervous Afghans pull money from Kabul Bank, raising fears

By David Nakamura and Andrew Higgins Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 2, 2010

KABUL – With Afghans clamoring to pull their cash from their nation’s biggest bank, the United States risks a politically perilous decision: whether to step in to help shore up a wobbly bank critical not only to Afghanistan’s economy but also to the battle against the Taliban.

A swarm of customers at the headquarters of Kabul Bank in the Afghan capital on Wednesday raised the prospect of a full-scale bank run that would further alienate dispirited Afghans from their government and imperil American efforts to contain the insurgency.

The tumult in Kabul and reports of crowds at other branches suggested that a decision this week by the Central Bank to purge the management of Kabul Bank and rein in its freewheeling ways – which included disastrous property speculation in Dubai – could backfire and set off the very crisis officials hoped to avoid. President Hamid Karzai’s brother Mahmoud, who used to run an Afghan restaurant in Maryland, owns 7 percent of Kabul Bank.

Afghan officials, struggling to prevent panic, insisted Wednesday that Kabul Bank and its rivals, some of which are perhaps even more fragile, are not in danger of collapse.

David Cohen, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, praised the Central Bank’s leaders for acting “aggressively, decisively and as a bank regulator should act under the circumstances.” He said the Treasury Department is “confident” that the Central Bank “has the expertise to handle the situation with Kabul Bank.”

Treasury has assigned a small team of experts to work with the Central Bank on the matter.

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Health insurance tax credit likely to affect small part of small-business workforce

September 2nd, 2010 · Democrats, Federal Spending, Healthcare, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama Exposed, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Small Business, Tax Dollars, Taxes

By N.C. Aizenman Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 2, 2010; 12:09 AM

About 16.6 million workers are employed by small businesses that are eligible for health insurance tax credits under the new health-care law, according to estimates that were to be released by a nonpartisan research foundation Thursday.

However, the report by the Commonwealth Fund estimated that only 3.4 million of those workers are at firms that would take advantage of the tax credit. For the most part, those are firms that already offer their employees health insurance.

Those firms that do not offer coverage are unlikely to consider the tax breaks enough of a financial incentive to start doing so, according to the report’s authors.

Still, the authors stressed the potential stimulus benefits of the tax credits, which apply beginning this taxable year and will increase in value in 2014 from as much as 35 percent of an employer’s premium contribution to as much as 50 percent. (The lower the wages and number of workers at a small business, the greater the size of the tax credit it is eligible for.)

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that by 2016, the last year for which the tax credits will be available, they will have reduced health insurance premiums for small business by 8 to 11 percent.

At that point, small businesses and their employees will be able to buy comprehensive insurance on state-based exchanges, which will be established in 2014 and are expected to offer more affordable rates than available in the current market.

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Obama administration appeals stem cell funding decision despite US Law

September 1st, 2010 · Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Ethics, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US

The Obama administration on Tuesday formally challenged a court order barring the federal government from funding human embryonic stem cell research.

The Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to suspend a temporary injunction he issued last week blocking the funding and filed a notice of plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Lamberth, ruling in a lawsuit filed by two researchers working on alternatives to the cells, said the funding violated a federal rule that prohibits federal tax money from being used for research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

“The government is seeking a stay of the court’s injunction to prevent the irreparable harm and financial harm that could occur if these lifesaving research projects are forced to abruptly shut down,” Justice Department spokesperson Tracy Schmaler said in a statement. “The great potential for significant additional medical breakthroughs is at risk if this research is halted pending the appeals process.”

Lamberth’s injunction “causes irrevocable harm to the millions of extremely sick or injured people who stand to benefit from continuing research, as well as taxpayers who have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this research through public funding of projcts which will not be forced to shut down,” she said.

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U.S. troop deaths in Afghan war up sharply

September 1st, 2010 · Deception, Defense, Foreign Policy, Obama's Scheme, Politics, Selling Out the US, Treason, War on Terrorism

By David Nakamura Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

KABUL – Twenty-two American troops have been killed in Afghanistan over the past five days, a spike that follows record-high death tolls for U.S. forces in June and July.

Five of the troops were slain Tuesday, including four who were killed by two improvised bombs in the east and one who died in an insurgent attack in the south, according to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The deaths brought the number of U.S. troops killed in August to 55, according a count by the Associated Press – significantly fewer than the 66 who died last month and 60 in June. Roadside bombs along military routes have been responsible for most of the deaths, as international forces penetrate deeper into areas controlled by Taliban insurgents.

Also Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on a bus in Kabul carrying employees of the Afghan Supreme Court, killing three and wounding several others, ISAF officials said.

Asked by The Washington Post about the jump in U.S. deaths in recent days, James Judge, an ISAF spokesman, responded via e-mail: “Historically, August usually yields somewhat higher numbers as it tends to be the insurgents’ last push before the winter months. With elections coming up, the numbers may remain somewhat elevated through September. Additionally, the troop surge has increased troop totals to approximately 147,000. With these additional forces, we are actively pursuing the enemy in areas traditionally held by insurgents.”

Judge noted that despite the bloodshed of the past few days, “overall for August, deaths due to IEDs are well under last year’s figures.”

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Obama speech on Iraq carries some pitfalls

September 1st, 2010 · Deception, Defense, Democrats, Ethics, Foreign Policy, Greed, Homeland Security, National Security, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Terrorism from Within, Treason

By Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010

President Obama is promoting the decision to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday as a fulfillment of his campaign promise to draw the war to a close. But some of the president’s detractors are using the same moment to question the wisdom of doing so – noting that Iraq is still afflicted with violence and has yet to form a government.

Obama will mark the occasion by flying to Fort Bliss, Tex., to meet with veterans. He will also deliver a prime-time Oval Office speech – only his second since taking office. On Monday, the president visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center and awarded 11 Purple Hearts to combat veterans. Vice President Biden traveled to Iraq to amplify the message.

“Maybe he’s entitled to the partial victory lap, but this is not the right moment for it,” said analyst Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, who has been critical of both Democratic and Republican approaches to the war. “If I were him, I’d wait until we have an Iraqi government, and do it with the Iraqis together.”

O’Hanlon said he was “confused about the planned Oval Office speech.” It could raise unrealistic expectations among the public about the chances for calm in Iraq, he said. And the timing of the pullout of combat troops may be seen as having more to do with the president’s political needs than with real signs of progress on the ground.

White House officials said the speech, scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and last 15 to 20 minutes, would acknowledge this week’s deadline as a “milestone” and pay tribute to the 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq since 2003. Obama will address shifting U.S. options now that the country is no longer technically at war in Iraq, including a greater emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Obama and the Democrat’s Social Security Bait and Switch

August 31st, 2010 · Deception, Democrats, Ethics, Federal Spending, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Social Security, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Unemployment

Associated Press

‘Harry, am I making this up?’ Yes, Mr. President, you are.

Democrats are trying to keep control of Congress by scaring the wig off grandma with a phantom GOP plot against Social Security. That is not news. Social Security scare tactics have been regular campaign themes since FDR. President Obama’s unique contribution is to do this even as he’s begging Republicans to help him reduce the deficit and reform entitlement spending.

On the one hand, Mr. Obama has charged his deficit commission with crafting a bipartisan plan to restrain entitlements. “Everything’s on the table. That’s how this thing’s going to work,” he said when he created the commission in February. “We now have to, in a gradual way, reduce spending, particularly on those big ticket items” like Social Security, he later added in Racine, Wisconsin. “That’s going to be our project for the next couple years.”

Yet even as Mr. Obama beseeches Republicans, he and his political allies are playing the Social Security card for all it’s worth in this campaign season. This has all the earmarks of a political bait and switch designed to ambush Republicans if they’re gullible enough to believe his bipartisan pleas.

Mr. Obama personally teed up the campaign theme earlier this month when he celebrated Social Security’s 75th anniversary by claiming that “privatizing Social Security” is “a key part” of the Republican “legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall.” He went on to say that this plan, which does not in fact exist, is “wrong for America” and “I’ll fight with everything I’ve got to stop those who would gamble your Social Security on Wall Street. Because you shouldn’t be worried that a sudden downturn in the stock market will put all you’ve worked so hard for—all you’ve earned—at risk.”

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Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas Dem Rep., Steered Scholarships To Family And Friends

August 31st, 2010 · Corruption, Democrats, Ethics, Greed

WASHINGTON — A Texas congresswoman admitted that she wrongly steered thousands of dollars in college scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to her own relatives and the children of a staff member but said she did so unintentionally.

Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson said in a statement Monday that she will reimburse the foundation by the end of the week. She did not state how much money was involved. The Dallas Morning News reported Monday that 23 scholarships she has handed out since 2005 violated the foundation’s eligibility rules.

The Morning News reported on its website that Johnson had arranged scholarships between 2005 and 2008 for two grandsons and two grandnephews and the son and daughter of a Dallas-based aide, Rod Givens. The newspaper placed the amount of those scholarships at up to $20,000.

In 2009, according to the foundation, Johnson gave two grandsons and the aide’s two children two scholarships apiece from foundation funds, the newspaper reported.

Relatives of members of Congress are ineligible to receive scholarship funds from the foundation because of anti-nepotism rules. The scholarships also violate a foundation rule that recipients need to live or study in the district represented by the Black Caucus member who awards the scholarship.

“As previously stated, I was unaware of being in any type of violation and never intentionally violated the CBCF’s rules,” Johnson said in a statement sent by e-mail by her office. She said she would appoint a third party to examine her office’s practices in distributing scholarship money.

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Indiana’s Ellsworth, onetime Democratic star, now a symbol of party’s struggles

August 30th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Democrats, Dissention, Obama Exposed

By Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 29, 2010; 10:16 PM

INDIANAPOLIS – When Brad Ellsworth won his U.S. House seat in Indiana four years ago, he was hailed by Democrats as the future of their party: a telegenic former sheriff with moderate instincts and an ability to appeal to a diverse electorate.

It was candidates such as Ellsworth who enabled the Democrats to conquer frontiers that mostly seemed beyond their reach, places such as Evansville and Terre Haute, which stuck with the party in 2008 and enabled President Obama to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Indiana in 44 years.

Today, those gains are in jeopardy, with Democratic prospects following the downward trend of the economy and Obama’s approval ratings. Ellsworth is running well behind in the race to replace Sen. Evan Bayh and has now become the face of the Democrats’ reversal of fortunes across the Midwest. The state’s two other vulnerable House Democrats, Reps. Joe Donnelly and Baron P. Hill, are battling to hold their seats, and Republicans could reclaim the district Ellsworth has represented for the past four years.

The dynamics raise a question larger than any one race – whether new Democrats have succeeded in expanding the political map in any sort of lasting way or whether candidates such as Ellsworth were just in the right place at the right time.

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The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment

August 30th, 2010 · Accountability, Deception, Democrats, Federal Spending, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Treason, Unemployment

My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn’t been extended to 99 weeks.

By Robert Barro

Congressman John Boehner recently suggested that President Obama replace his top economic advisers. I think he may have a point. The economic “recovery” has been disappointing, to put it mildly, and it has become increasingly clear that the blame lies with the policies of the Obama administration, not with those of its predecessor.

In general, the current administration has been too focused on expanding government, redistributing more from rich to poor, and stimulating aggregate demand. I have previously criticized the stimulus package as cost-ineffective. In particular, whatever tax reductions were in the package did not involve the cuts in marginal income tax rates that encourage investment, work effort and productivity growth.

Now the administration wants to kill the 2003 income-tax cuts, at least the parts that reduced marginal income tax rates for high-income earners and for all recipients of dividend income. This proposal is particularly disturbing because the 2003 law was George W. Bush’s main economic achievement; unlike most of Mr. Bush’s policies, this one was well-conceived and effective.

I want to focus here on another dimension of the Obama administration’s policies: the expansion of unemployment-insurance eligibility to as much as 99 weeks from the standard 26 weeks.

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