eyescrazychris

Pelosi draws response from CIA, criticism from GOP

Let me be clear. It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress," CIA Director Leon Panetta wrote in a message to agency employees that was released to the public. "That is against our laws and our values."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_go_co/us...

Referring to Pelosi's remarks, he said, "The political debate over interrogation reached a new decibel level yesterday

I think her accusations against our terror-fighters are irresponsible and, according to the CIA's record, Speaker Pelosi was briefed on what had been done," said Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, the senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "It's outrageous that a member of Congress would call our terror-fighters liars."

Pelosi drew the criticism a day after opening her weekly news conference with a prepared statement accusing agency briefers of misleading her in 2002 in connection with the use of waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

In the statement, she repeated that she was not told that waterboarding had been used, even though it had been, and said an aide informed her of its use after other lawmakers had been briefed in 2003.

If that is the way for a responsible leader to act then we do not need her leading us

Obama revives terror tribunals, dismaying liberals

"In one swift move, Obama both backtracks on a major campaign promise to change the way the United States fights terrorism and undermines the nation's core respect for the rule of law," said Amnesty International executive director Larry Cox.

"There is no such thing as 'due process light,'" said American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony D. Romero.

"As a constitutional lawyer, Obama must know that he can put lipstick on this pig — but it will always be a pig," said Zachary Katznelson, legal director of Reprieve, a London-based legal action charity that represents 33 Guantanamo detainees.

When AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL hates you, your up there with Bush.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_go_pr_wh...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090512/ap_on_bi_ge/us...

While your worrying about Ms. California here what's coming through the back door.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage giant Freddie Mac is looking for $6.1 billion in additional government aid as the cost to taxpayers from the housing market bust keeps growing.

The McLean, Va.-based company, seized by federal regulators in September, on Tuesday posted a loss of $9.9 billion, or $3.14 per share, for the quarter ending March 31. That compared with a loss of $149 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

The results were driven by $8.8 billion in credit losses due to soaring delinquency rates and falling home prices, and $7.1 billion in writedowns of the value of its mortgage-backed securities. More than $63 billion of Freddie Mac's loans were either 90 days overdue or in foreclosure at the end of March, nearly triple year-ago levels.

The request for federal aid is Freddie Mac's third since the takeover, for a total of about $51 billion.

Sibling company Fannie Mae last week requested $19 billion in additional government aid, bringing the total for both companies up to $85 billion out of a potential $400 billion government lifeline.

"This was another difficult quarter for Freddie Mac, as declining home prices and the weak economy continued to take a toll on our results," Freddie Mac's interim chief executive, John Koskinen, said in a statement.

But he said there were "preliminary signs of slowing in home price declines as low mortgage rates and high affordability take hold."

The White House budget office estimates the tab for rescuing the two companies will reach $173 billion. But even that number could wind up being optimistic, especially as Fannie and Freddie are called upon to put in place the government's plans to refinance or modify up to 9 million mortgages.

Washington-based Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a vital role in the mortgage market by purchasing loans from banks and selling them to investors. Together, the companies own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.5 trillion. That's about half of all U.S home mortgages

"The power to tax is the power to destroy"

Points against "sin taxes" from the Heartland Institute:

* It reduces the income of the buyer.

* It lowers profits for the seller, and leads to reduced investment, wages, and jobs.

* It is not likely to seriously discourage consumption habits when those habits are intensely desired.

* It may eventually decrease government revenue, especially as people move their business to the informal sector.

* It encourages people to turn to harder substances to feed their habits at the same price.

* It creates underground markets, which tend toward corruption and violence, and fosters disrespect for the law.

* It sets up a moral hazard for policy makers, who vacillate between wanting to discourage undesirable behavior and wanting to encourage it for revenue purposes.

Bev needs to learn that cutting spending and eliminating wasteful and unnecessary government programs and offices does more to promote prosperity for the taxpayer than stealing their money through excessive taxation.

In this economic environment, raising taxes will have a devastating impact on the local economy.

Yes it's a tax on alcohol & tobacco. Gov. Purdue strikes again I'm really beginning to hate North Carolina.

A Dutch study published last year in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal said that health care costs for smokers were about $326,000 from age 20 on, compared to about $417,000 for thin and healthy people.

The reason: The thin, healthy people lived much longer.

Willard Manning, a professor of health economics and policy at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies, was lead author on a paper published two decades ago in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that, taking into account tobacco taxes in effect at the time, smokers were not a financial burden to society.

So what will you non-smoking people do to make up the difference, hmmm.Once you abolish smoking who'll pay for healthcare and such. You know where all the tobacco tax goes to.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FACT-CHECK-Do-smoker...

Just for fun you know

A few weeks ago, we were ready to throw every CEO and Employee in jail for using our tax dollars to pay out bonuses. But Freddie & Fannie are doing it now. Where's the outrage?! Where's the tax penalty?!. Why do these elected officials continually think they know what's best for us. They cannot even control/run the programs they have established. They are failures, why do the disadvantaged think that the government can help you , when they only help themselves?How come those Dem's & Rep's can except this but not AIG. You that vote Democrat, must relieze what you have done to this country. You have been ripping down your Obama/Biden posters and stickers like it's the Plague. There is no such thing as a socialist. Your just a communist simply put. To the McCain/Palin Rep's , thank you for reminding me why I dont vote Republican. You cannot be a conservative & act like a moderate. McCain was not the answer, and he should just change parties!

We the People should just tell these clowns in Washington What we think of their reprensentation. You have the power, Call your OFFICIALS. You have the weapon , Your VOTE. You war begins locally, then state, the federal!

I'm sick to death of this:http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/fanni...

Now you've gotten upset at The Patriot Act, Bar Codes, Nativity Scenes outside Post Offices, Gun Control, and Abortion. All in my eyes are intrusions on my/our privacy. So really, How much will it be before you had enough. How much of other peoples freedom are you willing to take away before "The Man" knocks down your door? Check out this site if you want to see something interesting:http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/?c_id=googsm...

The more "greener" you get the less pollution and a cleaner Earth. Why do you need to know when peak hours are? It's when your home.

Oh yeah, this also comes with the Cap-trade energy tax.

Obama said Saturday that people are more concerned about having a paycheck and being able to pay college or medical bills than they are about "the news of the day in Washington."

Those are the concerns, he said, that he addresses in his budget, which he calls an economic blueprint for the future. It is "a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banks, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity," Obama said.

Maybe we don't need to know what's going on with our Govt.

WASHINGTON – 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. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing the federal bailout, said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece. "This is shameful. It is a disgrace," said Lewis. "We are going to get to the bottom of what is going on here."

The House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight discovered the unpaid 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.

The committee said it could not legally release the names of the companies owing taxes. It said one recipient had almost $113 million in unpaid federal income taxes from 2005 and 2006. A second recipient owed almost $102 million dating to before 2004. Another was behind $1.1 million in federal income taxes and $223,000 in federal employment taxes.

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

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_go_co/ba...

If Harry Ried wants names, well so do I, no company should be immune, don't you think?

Auditor warns: Some stimulus waste is inevitable

WASHINGTON – The chief auditor overseeing spending of $787 billion in stimulus money said Thursday that some fraud and waste is inevitable.

He promised to try to keep it to a minimum.

Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, told lawmakers the problem will be aggravated by a lack of federal workers needed to oversee the spending. Federal agencies will have difficulty hiring enough skilled workers "to minimize the risks associated with moving this amount of money quickly," Devaney told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said the industry standard level of fraud is 7 percent, and that would equate to about $55 billion in stimulus dollars wasted. Noting the outcry over $165 million in employee bonuses at bailed-out insurance giant AIG, Burton said $55 billion in stimulus waste and fraud would prompt the American people to "march on the Capitol."

It is truly amazing what you find at the bottom of the news page.Don't really care if your Republican or Democrat just bringing you what are elected officials are "doing for us".If AIG has made you vomit blood in anger then this should really upset you.

Devaney's board — referred to by its acronym "RAT" — was charged with creating and maintaining a government Web site called Recovery.gov that tracks stimulus spending.

Rep. Edolphus "Ed" Towns, D-N.Y., the committee chairman, said he thinks the Web site is not currently a usable database and he will ask Vice President Joe Biden to spearhead a uniform approach to tracking the money. Biden has been tasked by the president with overseeing the implementation of the stimulus.

We will not know what the Govt has spent this money on till July 15, 2009.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090319/ap_on_go_co/st...

http://www.recovery.gov/- went to read the bill and I was knocked off line. Are they changing Chris Dodd's admendment?

Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090316/ap_on_go_pr_wh...

Sorry Mr. President past & present, you gave them our money. And You and congress are to blame

Cuomo issuing subpoenas for AIG bonus information

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090316/ap_on_re_us/ai...

Sorry to you Mr. Cuomo, your about as useful as a soup sandwich.

Well our Leaders have done it again.... Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Maybe we all should just call our Representatives and tell them to resign. In my opinion they are more to blame than the CEO's. After all all They gave them the money. Harry Reid stated that the Fed owns 80% of AIG,so therefore they had Govt approval for this! The Outrage ! How Dare They intentionally screw us all over!

Here's the phone# to Capitol Hill, Call them and let them know how you feel!

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/73lb9/to...

1-877-851-6437/1-800-828-0498

"We Are No Longer Legislators." "Rep. John Boehner has a message for his GOP colleagues in the House: 'We are no longer legislators.' That might seem like an odd thing for the Republican leader to say, but given the size of the Democratic majority, House rules that give the majority near-total control, and the desire of the House Democrats to exercise that control, Boehner's options for legislating are rather limited. At one point in his leisurely lunch with reporters-something he now has more time for-he was asked about the schedule for energy reform legislation in the House. 'I have no idea,' Boehner responded. 'I'm not in the majority.'" [Slate, 2/26/09]

Seems the Dems should just outlaw the Republican party and get it over with.

In remarks to a private dinner at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Summers was even blunter, according to an attendee: “Before, we had too much greed and too little fear. Now, we have too much fear and too little greed.”

“Eventually, however, this process stops – and reverses. Prices fall. People sell. Instead of an expectation of new buyers, there is an expectation of new sellers. Greed gives way to fear. And this fear begets fear. …

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19972.ht...

I guess that makes you liberals wanna be republicans since you got to greedy now. what an awful virtue.

Oops I did it again....

Rep. Maxine Waters defends work with banks

The Los Angeles congresswoman denies having influence over Bush administration officials in the Treasury Department and the issuing of bailout funds to OneUnited Bank.

By Richard Simon and E. Scott Reckard

11:11 AM PDT, March 13, 2009

Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington -- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) today defended her efforts to help minority-owned banks -- including one with ties to her husband - survive the financial crisis, and scoffed at the notion that she could sway the Bush administration's actions.

"Although both my supporters and detractors often refer to me as influential, the truth is that I had no influence on what Bush administration officials in the Treasury Department or other departments did," she said in a statement.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-...

Going through the news today and look what we ran across:

Capitol power plant dims clean energy hopes

WASHINGTON – As Congress tries to clean up the nation's energy sources and cut gases blamed for global warming, it is struggling to do so in its own backyard.

The Capitol Power Plant, a 99-year-old facility that heats and cools the hallowed halls of Congress, still burns coal and accounts for one-third of the legislative branch's greenhouse gas emissions. For a decade, lawmakers have attempted to clean it up.

Once again, somebody is telling us how we should heat and cool our homes. 10YRS! Hmmmm, Seems like some accountability and jail time is involved, but yet to the environmentalists you want the government to straighten out the global warming/cooling and or climate change crisis. As a matter of fact you want the Government to handle your everyday function in Life. Well having Uncle Sugar dictate our lives, is like having a soup sandwich without the bread. Here is the link of the story, and what's next? How many times I'm allowed to flush my toilet a week, because the the man at the treatment plant been laid-off because of to much methane gas emissions

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_on_go_co/co...

House Democrats killed a resolution Wednesday that called for an ethics committee inquiry into the relationship between campaign contributions and earmarks.

The resolution, drafted by Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., cited recent reports of a federal investigation into the campaign finance activities of a lobbying firm, The PMA Group, which has been a major contributor to lawmakers' campaigns and a successful advocate for earmarked federal dollars for its clients.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20090225/pl_cq_politics...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_go_co/co...

these 2 links made me spit up my coffee, lmao!

A presidential decision: Labradoodle or Portuguese water hound?

Updated: Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | By Angie Drobnic Holan

Barack Obama said he's been surprised at the huge amount of interest in what kind of dog the family will get. Obama told his daughters that if he ran for president, they would get a dog, and now he has found himself overwhelmed with advice.

"We're getting more advice about this than my economic policy," he told Barbara Walters on Nov. 25, 2008. "No doubt about it."

He said he hoped the family would get a rescue dog, but that it would have to be a hypoallergenic breed, because his older daughter Malia is allergic. He also said they would not get the dog until they were settled into the White House, probably in early spring.

But we do know they have narrowed down their choices on breed. It's going to be either a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound, Obama said on Jan. 10, 2009.

"We're closing in on it," Obama told George Stephanopoulos. "This has been tougher than finding a Commerce secretary."

Narrowing the choice to two breeds seems like progress to us, doggone it. We're moving this item to In the Works.

Sources:

Chicago Sun-Times, Barack Obama press conference , Nov. 7, 2008

60 Minutes, interview with Barack and Michelle Obama , Nov. 26, 2008

ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos , Jan. 11, 2009

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors

Allow five days of public comment before signing bills

To reduce bills rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them, Obama "will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days

Link to keeping track:http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

Dept. of Agriculture-$22.5 mil

Dept of Commerce-$10 mil

Dept of Defense-$15 mil

Dept of Education-$14 mil

Dept of Energy-$15mil

Dept of Health & Human Services-$19 mil

Dept of Homeland Security-$2 mil

Dept of Housing and Urban Developement-$15 mil

Dept of the Interior-$15 mil

Dept of Justice-$2 mil

Dept of Labor-$6 mil

Dept of Transportation-$20 mil

Dept of Veterans Affairs-$1 mil

Environmental Protection Agency-$20 mil

General Services Administration-$15 mil

NASA-$2 mil

Small Business Administration-$10 mil

Social Security Administration-$2 mil

Corporation for National and Community Services-$1 mil

Government Accounting Office-$25 mil

http://www.rules.house.gov/111/LegText/111_hr1_tex...

It's only 647 pages long almost as long as the Tax code!