Breaking News: The Stimulus Package passed in the Senate today! (The House already passed an earlier version)Brave Republicans, but moreso Americans, Sens. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins of Maine and Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, voted in favor of the bill despite demonization by the Republican ANTI-American opposers.
As many Republicans, Limbaugh and the extremist Right wing play "the usual political games," our President Obama says We must SAVE our failing economy and save America and "What we have to do right now is deliver for the American people."
Meanwhile, Republican extremists including Limbaugh, Malkin and their minions continue to play partisan political games, putting our country and all of our futures in jeopardy. They are praying both our President and our Country Fail so they can WIN in 2012!! So much for their Christian Conservatism! See the reports:
NYTimes reports:
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted on Tuesday to approve an $838 billion economic stimulus plan that stands to become the most expansive anti-recession effort by the United States government since World War II. Congressional leaders said they would immediately begin to work out the differences between the Senate measure and an $820 billion version passed by the House, with President Obama also likely to have a strong voice in the talks.
As the Senate voted on the recovery package, President Obama told an audience at a town meeting in Fort Myers, Fla.: “Doing nothing is not an option. You didn’t send me to Washington to do nothing.”
Despite numerous differences in the two bills approved in the Senate and the House, the overall scope of the economical recovery effort is now clear — sprawling in its reach, with tax cuts for individuals, families and businesses, assistance for jobless and low income Americans, aid to states, and huge spending on education, healthcare, energy and technology.
Fox News reports:
The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote of 61-37. Sixty votes were needed. Three Republicans joined Democrats in passage..Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter...The negotiations (to reconcile both the Senate & House versions of the bill)...could last through next week, potentially passing President Obama's Feb. 16 President's Day deadline.
Christian Science Monitor reports:
Message to Republicans who voted for the package: "We want it to Fail! You are on Notice!"
Right Wing Hot Air Shock Jocks:
FAIL! Today..we’ll be going long and making more calls to Senators and Representatives in opposition to Porkulus, the Obama-Pelosi-Reid omnibus spending bill that passed cloture today. We will have another shot at stopping (FAILING) this behemoth when it comes out of conference, and we need to make sure that we let our elected representatives know exactly what we think of it.
To our Senators and Congressmen: The political Right is good at filling up your voicemails, emails and free faxes. That is their political game. REMEMBER: THE NAYSAYERS ARE FEW!! BUT THEY ARE GOOD AT THEIR TACTICS!
REMEMBER! WE THE PEOPLE SUPPORT YOU!! PASS THIS BILL & SIGN IT!
God Bless America!!
Posts
33 comments:
Words of an American Hero:
We did this because America needs this!
Arlen Specter
Dear Dee :
Today we saw a catastrophe in Wall street, Dow under 8,000, Nasdaq approaching 1,500
Colonel Douglas Macgregor says that things can not be worse. That America's strategic position in these Arab countries has deteriorated a lot in the past eight years.
That Arabs are exploiting that huge Pentagon Budget lavished on Iraq. That there is no trust between America and anybody else in Iraq.
Unemployment steadily increasing.
Now the Good News :
I predicted the Obama Triumph several months in advance, and always believed in him.
The Stage is set for Obama being a Great President. Today he gave consolation to a weeping black woman. That is the Guy !!
We all understood the physical gesture and approach of the president to the poor woman. We don't have to go to Harvard.
We are witnessing the Making of a Great President.
Stop Worrying the man at the Helm is good.
Milenials.com
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque
Dee :
Every Sound Economist will agree that doing something is better than doing nothing. And the Perfect Economic Package does not exist because Economics is an experimental science and what worked in a certain year and a certain geographic point may not work in other place and time.
I think that great part of the debate against Mr Obama is Sheer Partisanship, Envy, and Just the Business of Stimulating Low Passions, even Racism, or dislike for Minorities.
If there is something for the Poor and Minorities, then the Package should be attacked. But those Poor and Minorities are the People that spend and activate demand.
Some Nobel Prize Winners in Economics or very Prominent in that Science approve the Stimulus Package and would only add or change little modifications.
Listening to some Radio Talk Shows of California, you see the Strong Hate and Passion against Latinos. Super Distilled Racism.
****************
I see that you are in "Comment Moderation" ...
This is extremely sad but I was receiving tons upon tons of Hate Mail. Not only attacking me with the worst slurs and insults but even much worse :
They were attacking very prominent persons of Civil Rights, of the Black Community, of the Latin Organizations.
And they were playing the game of assumptions :
You are a fag, pedophile, pederast, degenerate, immature little adolescent, scum spic, illegal alien, etc ...
We should not fall in the game of assumptions.
So all my comments are sadly moderated and I even think of taking stronger measures against Hate Comments, or suspend all comments.
My sites Prophesizing.com, Tortural.com and Murderor.com do not receive such deluge of Hate as
these two champions of Hate Mail, a Deluge of Dirt and Filth :
Raciality.com
Milenials.com
That is the price to pay for being controversial and speaking up and speaking out.
Vicente Duque
Vicente,
I agree!
Vicente said..
the man at the Helm is good.
Pro-America Republicans have no
wish for America's failure. Quite the contrary, the GOP wanted a more responsible bi-partisan bill rather than the one concocted behind closed doors by Reid and Pelosi with only Democrats and the three RINOs present.
Had Obama really wanted real bi-partisanship he would have gone to the leaders in the House and the Senate and said, "Here's a list of the junk that will not provide an immediate stimulus. You need to remove from these items from the bill." He could have added to the list the minimum requirements of the Republicans to gain their support.
I believe it is important that Congress act in a responsible way to help get our economy moving again, without more pork-barrel spending, which does nothing but give taxpayers' money to special interests. Despite several productive meetings with President Obama, House Republicans were not able to support the package put forth by House Democrats. In addition to opposing the massive spending bill, House Republicans crafted an alternative plan that would let families, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed keep more of what they earn, create more jobs and aid our economy. The Republican plan was defeated and Democrats chose a plan loaded with over $1.1 trillion in programs and projects, most of which will have little impact on our economy. Now the Senate Democrats and three RINOs have passed an equally dismaying bill larded up with funds for special interests and political payoffs. In typical Reid-Pelosi dictatorial fashion, Dictator Reid refused to allow a floor vote on an amendment that would have matched the E-verification language in the House bill. This is just another example of how Reid and Pelosi thwart the democratic process. The question has never been about the need for a responsible stimulus package. Republican opposition relates to the general Democrat approach that larded up the bill with projects that will not produce any stimulus in the first two years.
El Duque wrote, "I predicted the Obama Triumph several months in advance, and always believed in him."
No big deal. The polls indicated early on that Obama would win handily.
El Duque wrote, "Today he gave consolation to a weeping black woman. That is the Guy !!"
Your education has been sadly neglected if you chortle about something as inconsequential as this. Presidents have always consoled families who are hurting, especially those who have lost loved ones in battle. If you had been paying attention, you would have seen it happen several times during the Bush administration. It is expected of presidents and a given in every administration.
El Duque wrote, "We are witnessing the Making of a Great President."
Don't you think you are being a little premature? After all, he has been in office for less than a month. So far he has accomplished nothing, unless you want to count his miscues on his cabinet appointments. Where are the criminal proceedings against Daschle et. al.
The taxman is upon us but given the situation in Washington no one needs to worry about paying his taxes unless he gets a cabinet appointment and is exposed as a tax scofflaw.
We now know why Democrat don't mind raising taxes. It doesn't affect them because they simply don't bother to pay them.
El Duque wrote, "Today we saw a catastrophe in Wall street, Dow under 8,000, Nasdaq approaching 1,500."
Yes, catastrophe has become Obama's favorite word. He needs to take a page out of President Eisenhower's play book.
Notes from America
The Obama Watch
The massive spending bill passed by House Democrats will exceed more than $1.1 trillion when adding in the interest costs related to this legislation ($300 plus billion between 2009 and 2019). The Senate bill appears to be of the order of $820 billion pared down largely by the activism of Republicans. My first concern with the plan is the overall size. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently announced that the deficit this fiscal year is estimated to be $1.2 trillion - even before passing the economic stimulus package. The deficit estimate makes it clearer than ever that we cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity. Numerous economists who have contacted my office agree. We must remember who is going to pay the bill for this package. Our children and grandchildren already face a mountain of national debt, and we must be very careful to balance the needs of our economy today with the amount of debt we leave future generations. Dramatically increasing the debt to pay for more wasteful government spending is the height of irresponsibility.
In addition to my objections surrounding the size of the Democratic plan, I have also expressed concerns regarding its content. The non-partisan CBO concluded that the Democratic package will have little immediate impact on the economy. The director of the CBO, Douglas Elmendorf, has reported that direct payments to individuals and cutting federal taxes would have the fastest impact while spending could take longer. He stated, "In the past for federal programs, there has been a 'noticeable lag' between big funding increases and spending." According to the CBO, only 7% of funds for infrastructure will be spent in the 2009 fiscal year and only 38% by the end of the 2010 fiscal year. I believe Americans need immediate relief, and they cannot effort to wait for the money to trickle through government bureaucracies with no guarantees of success.
Moreover, much of the funding within the massive spending bill will be allocated to programs already receiving significant funding on the federal level, such as the $1 billion dollars which would go to Community Development Block Grants that already hold $16 billion on hand. The Democratic proposal would allow groups like the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to have access to billions of taxpayer dollars through Community Development Block Grants and a "neighborhood stabilization" provision. ACORN has been accused of perpetuating voter registration fraud in past elections.
Not only is some of this spending reckless and wasteful, it also fails to achieve the intended effect of creating jobs and stimulating the economy. Other government spending on programs and projects included in the proposal are: $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts, $650 million for the coupon program to subsidize digital TV conversion, $44 million for repairs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters, $335 million for education related to sexually transmitted diseases, and $400 million for "national treasures." Further, the plan establishes at least 32 new government programs at a cost of over $136 billion.
Doesn't sound much like the Democrats are worried about the national debt just as long as they get their pet programs into the bill--the pork Obama said he wouldn't stand for!
House Republicans offered a better solution: an economic recovery plan that will create 6.2 million new American jobs over the next two years, at half the cost of the Congressional Democrats' bill, according to a methodology used by President Obama's own nominee as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Christina Romer. The Republican alternative will provide fast-acting tax relief to help the economy create jobs and get our economy back on track, without asking taxpayers to pay for $1.1 trillion in new government spending. Along with other Republican Leaders, I presented our plan to President Obama, who met with House Republicans to hear our suggestions. Unfortunately, these solutions were voted down on the House floor, just as they were in the Senate.
The Republican plan would have spurred economic growth and put people back to work by lowering the tax burden on families and small businesses. That rapid economic recovery plan would:
Provide Immediate Tax Relief for Working Families: Reduce the lowest individual tax rates from 15 percent to 10 percent and from 10 percent to 5 percent. Married couples filing jointly could save up to $3,200 per year in taxes. This would keep more money in the pockets of working families. Our plan would also ensure that no additional middle- class taxpayers fall victim to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
Help America's Small Businesses: Allow small businesses to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income. Roughly half of American jobs are created by small businesses and this will immediately free up funds for small business to generate jobs.
Provide Assistance for the Unemployed: Make unemployment benefits tax free so that those who are out of work can provide for their families.
Extend Unemployment Insurance Benefits: Expand current temporary federal extended unemployment benefits through December 2009, to help long-term unemployed workers.
Provide a Health Insurance Deduction: Level the playing field for tax treatment of health insurance by providing a new above-the-line deduction for Americans who do not receive tax-preferred, employer-based health coverage. This would help Americans who purchase their own insurance, regardless of whether they itemize their taxes or take a standard deduction.
Stabilize Home Values: Institute a home-buyers credit of $7,500 for those buyers who make a minimum down-payment of 5 percent, in order to encourage responsible buyers to enter the market and stabilize prices.
Repeal Three Percent Withholding Required for Government Contractors: Repeal the rule which requires 3 percent withholding on certain payments made to taxpayers under contract with federal, state and local governments.
Ensure No Tax Increases to Pay for Spending: Prevent a tax increase on American working families to pay for such spending. Under the Democratic plan, massive new levels of government spending have been proposed. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposal will significantly increase the national debt. House and Senate Republicans wanted to ensure that the proposal includes a provision which to protect the American taxpayer and American workers.
Ultima,
The Republicans, instead of working in a bipartisan fashion, plugged their ears and closed their eyes and refused to work with Democrats. Instead they went off on their own and developed their own plans, many of them, all just as a means to delay or stop the passage of the actual stimulus package.
The reality is, the stimulus package will bring 3 - 4 Million new good paying jobs for Americans and 150B for infrastructure. Americans don't want a $600 rebate check. They want a good paying job. This bill will teach people to fish, not be given a fish.
All the Republicans want to do is create stalling tactics and with each new bill they create means billions for big business and a measly little check for Americans who want to work.
We support our President.
We support the package of the Stimulus/Jobs Bill.
God Bless America!
The American people are hurting and expect Congress to take action on a pro-growth package to get the economy back on track. However, the difficulties of families and small businesses should not be compounded by asking them to pay for $1.1 trillion in new Washington spending. President Obama has expressed his desire to craft a bill to create new jobs; unfortunately, Congressional Democrats turned this vision upside down by spending billions on programs that have little to do with pulling the country out of recession. While House Republicans strongly objected to the legislation that passed the House, I’m sure they stand ready to work with the President and Congressional Democrats to fulfill the initial intent of this process: allowing middle-class families, small businesses, job-seekers, and home-buyers to keep more of what they earn and encouraging investment to help create jobs and get our economy back on track. Whether the Democrat Congress will allow the Republicans to influence the outcome remains in doubt now that the RINOs in the Senate have caved in. Dee calls Spector a hero but there is another term that is more apropos.
Dee wrote, "We did this because America needs this!"
This was not meant in a literal sense. It should be read as America needs something like this without the pork and the political payoffs. Followed by an admission that through his action and that of the other RINOs, the Dem got the pork and political payoffs they wanted. Shame on him.
I provided the picture of the Real Porkulus! Porkulus Limbaugh who wants our country and our president to Fail, just so he can increase ratings and elect a repub in 2012.
But he will be sorely disappointed.
The bill passed and will be signed this week.
It will be successful and we will get out of this Recession.
Americans will remember what Limbaugh and his supporters did to demonize the plan and the President.
Republicans will NOT win in 2012. They need to learn to put their partisan ways behind them and join the rest of us Americans.
God Bless America!
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says he has a "financial stability plan." He has not. He has brought back an old trick: alchemy. The ability to turn lead into gold, spin straw into silver. The only difference between Geithner's plan and the Pelosi-Reid spend-fest is that the House speaker and Senate majority leader are going to make us rich by spending our money, and Geithner is going to make us rich by lending/giving our money to other people.
Obama, Be Like Ike
Just two words of advice: Emulate Eisenhower.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is regarded as the boring president of a boring decade. In fact, those times—with major crises in Taiwan, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East—were scarier than ours. Ike also had to close out a stalemated war, bring West Germany into a fledgling NATO, and cope with the threat of nuclear annihilation by the Soviets.
And Eisenhower made it all look boring—by projecting calm and playing golf, eschewing dramatic gestures and grandiose reforms, and governing resolutely from the center. He understood that a president can more easily do harm than good, that a strong leader nurtures rather than fractures consensus, and that power has its own natural hydraulics, which not even a president can defy.
Instead of a dramatic visit to the Republican caucus with nothing to offer, Obama could have come with a list of the things in the bill that he believed were inconsistent with its stated stimulus objective and with an offer to mediate with his Democrat colleagues to see how many of them he could get removed before the vote in the House and now in the Senate. As Gil Troy shows in Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents, moderation is not about splitting the difference between extremes; it is a coherent strategy all its own and one that has succeeded better than flashier alternatives. Exhausting eventfulness solves few problems. Obama needs to destabilize less while solving more. Like Ike.
This means no more talk about catastrophes!
As President Obama seeks final passage of his economic stimulus bill, he is urging congressional negotiators not to succumb to "failed" Republican suggestions that an economic rebound can come from tax cuts. But one of the biggest items in the stimulus bill passed by the Senate yesterday, and also in the version approved last month by the House, is a tax-cut proposal that Obama himself is insisting upon - and which one of his newly announced advisers doubts will work.
Ultima,
Why didnt you ask Dubya to be like Ike? or Reagan, or even Carter.
ultima said...
Obama, Be Like Ike
You forget. The economy tanked under Bush's watch.
It is up to Obama to play clean up!
I think it is hilarious that Republicans are blustering about Obama. Why didnt they do that with Bush? Why didnt they tell him not to make that wrong turn to Iraq? Why didnt they tell him not to do away with the regulations that allowed the Banks/Business to get us into this economic mess? Why didnt they tell him not to do away with our Civil Liberties via the so called Patriot Act? Now the Republicans, Limbaugh and his minions are whining like little girly men (isnt that what Ahnold called them)?
Woman Who Told Obama She Was Homeless Gets Home
Henrietta Hughes Given Home After Telling Obama She Was Homeless
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/11/henrietta-hughes-given-ho_n_166028.html
Bravo !! Bravo !! Bravo !!
Applause !! Applause !!
The Stimulus Package can be polished and modified to be more just and better conceived.
The cargo of the mules is arranged during the trip in the mountains.
All Systems go !! ... Mr Obama !
We are in the middle of the River of History.
Abraham Lincoln was compassionate with a widow that had a single son. And the soldier son was going to be shot because he slept during guard at the Union Army.
Lincoln forgave the Soldier and gave the pardon !!
The Legends are made of these bits.
Raciality.com
or here :
Milenials.com
Vicente Duque
vicente said:
"The cargo of the mules is arranged during the trip in the mountains."
What in the world does that mean?
You do realize, Vicente, tht it was not obama that gave this woman a house, right. It was a politician from Florida that heard the story and called the woman, told her she could live in the house she first purchased.
"Henrietta Hughes was offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman's pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd.
The house is in LaBelle, the first home Scere Thompson bought after law school. She told Hughes, "Just give me the opportunity to help you.""
Do some research before you say something that does not correlate with what you are saying.
Vicente,
I agree.
That is a nice story!
Vicente Duque said...
Woman Who Told Obama She Was Homeless Gets Home
Henrietta Hughes Given Home After Telling Obama She Was Homeless
Bravo !! Bravo !! Bravo !!
Applause !! Applause !!
American Political Arena :
When a Ship is sinking, fights among passengers, tripulation and captain do not help :
Of Course America is not sinking. It is just a metaphor. But there is too much political foolishness, politicking, politickering, political bickering.
Economics is an experimental Science. Nobody knows what is going to happen with the stimulus package, and it can be fixed, modified and changed on the way.
Like when you go on a trip in the mountains with many mules carrying a big cargo. You have to arrange the cargo, packages, bags, loads and boxes many times on the way to your destination.
Everybody hates the King and loves the Prince :
This is a saying of the Middle Ages. Everybody loves the New President. But as time goes on and People do nor receive the posts, positions, gifts, budget appropriations and moneys, then people become angry with the King or President.
Many people think that it is so easy as to read a History of Economics Book. But economic tricks that worked well in the past may not work so well today, and viceversa.
Obama will be a Great President. He may learn something.
And So What ??
Vicente Duque
Gosh AZ,
Glad to see you back!
We missed you!
AZ,
At least you are agreeing with me re: the corruptness and wrongdoings in the bush admininstration.
Bush/Cheney were a runaway train. I dont think anyone could have stopped them!
The Arizonian said...
So what about the other million+ homeless people? Where are they?
On a side note....
Dee said:
"I think it is hilarious that Republicans are blustering about Obama. Why didnt they do that with Bush?"
We did, but why didn't the media cover it?
"Why didnt they tell him not to make that wrong turn to Iraq?"
Why didn't ANYONE in Congress (including Dems) for that matter?
Post a Comment