Is Obama’s $789 billion buying votes instead of jobs?

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MONEYNETDAILY

Studies show ‘stimulus’ spent on Democrats, not unemployment

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Posted: December 19, 2009
12:45 am Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A pair of studies analyzing U.S. jobs and the effects of President Obama’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act suggest the so-called “stimulus” bill has boosted partisan interests far more than employment figures.

White House projections in February claimed the $789 billion in spending would “create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years” and that over 90 percent of those jobs would be in the private sector.

One year into the two-year projections, however, the studies show that not only has the money failed thus far to deliver on either of those promises, but it also has been doled out disproportionately to districts with Democrat representation.

The first study, conducted by the Republicans of the House Ways and Means Committee, compares the White House’s projections to actual U.S. Department of Labor statistics on a state-by-state basis.

The numbers show that 49 of the 50 states have actually lost jobs since the stimulus was passed in February, and that the only state to gain jobs, North Dakota, still has more than halfway to go to meet White House projections.

And while calculating how many jobs the stimulus package has “saved” is highly contentious (the administration estimates it has created 640,000 jobs), the Republicans compare the promised 3.5 million jobs the stimulus package was supposed to boost to the net 2.6 million jobs the U.S. has lost since the ARRA was passed.

Tell lawmakers in Washington that if they insist on spending more, they’ll join the ranks of the unemployed, too. For just $29.95 you can send an individualized notice to every member of Congress in the form of a “pink slip.”

“President Obama said, ‘We’ve seen a significant turnaround in the economy overall since the beginning of the year.’ Vice President Biden said, of the 2009 stimulus law, ‘It has created jobs,'” the House Republicans point out in a statement. “Outside of the White House, though, real Americans find it difficult to … see any significant turnaround or real job creation. Instead, they see only millions more jobs eliminated and millions more unemployed American workers.”

The second study, conducted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, reviewed the distribution of the $157 billion in stimulus dollars already doled out and found results that further bring up questions as to how and why the money is being spent.

 

The university study discovered first that there was “no statistical correlation” between the amount of money a district received and its unemployment rate.

The study did discover, however, a correlation between the amount of money spent and the political party representing the district in Congress.

“You would think, right, that if the administration believes in its theory that government money can create jobs, they would spend a lot of money in districts that have high unemployment,” study co-author Veronique de Rugy told Fox News.

Instead, the study found:

• There has been no correlation between unemployment or income and the level of stimulus fund allocation
• In fact, more funding has gone to higher-income areas than lower-income areas
• Democratic congressional districts have received 1.89 times more money than GOP districts, receiving on average $439 million, compared to Republican districts receiving on average $232 million
• In total, Democratic districts have received 73.47 percent of the total stimulus funds awarded.

“During the appropriations process, you’re not surprised to see the Democrats are getting more money, but in this case a lot of the money we’re looking at is going through [the Department of Housing and Urban Development], or Department of Education, Department of Transportation, etc., and they’re following a formula,” de Rugy told the Washington Examiner. “But the correlation exists, and not only does it exist – when you look at how much money we’re talking about, it’s a pretty big deal.”

Furthermore, the study revealed, rather than the White House’s pledge of distributing 90 percent of the funds to the private sector, thus far nearly $88 billion has been spent in the public sector, to only $69 billion in the private, which works out to roughly 44 percent.

The Mercatus study can be read in full on the Center’s website, while the House Committee on Ways and Means Republicans’ report is summarized in the chart below:

Obama, the laughingstock

Ed Lasky

Is our President, and America itself, becoming laughingstock of the world to be ignored and dismissed, if not ridiculed, as Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have? The world has taken measure of the man and he has fallen short.Chavez calls Obama “the devil” and that, using his favorite way to describe the odor of American President, he smells of sulfur. Even Fidel Castro mocks him .

Then other world leaders “include him out” of meetings that he has to invite himself into to by barging in. The Iranians have swatted away his outstretched hand by depicting him as no better than George Bush.

Of course, the way he has mistreated allies – ignoring Prime Minister Gordon Brown (who had to force his own meeting with the President by meeting him in a kitchen), sending the bust of Winston Churchill back across the pond; stiffing the Dalai Lama, ignoring the work of allied nations that led to the tearing down on the Berlin Wall and the downfall of communism, and throwing various former allies under the bus does not engender trust or loyalty. He stabbed Alice Palmer, his mentor, in the back as he used legal challenges to knock her off the ballot during a race that he wanted to win. The list could go on..and will in the years ahead.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/12/obama_the_laughingstock.html at December 19, 2009 – 05:04:03 PM EST

Reid Needs 60 Votes By Tomorrow And Lieberman’s Left Town!

December 18th, 2009 Posted By Erik Wong.

The American Spectator:

If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hasn’t secured 60 votes by midnight Saturday, he won’t be able to meet the ambitious deadline of passing a health care bill on Christmas Eve.

The reason is that in order to trigger the chain of events leading to a Christmas Eve vote, Reid would have to file cloture on his “manager’s amendment” — containing all of his final negotiated changes to the bill — by the end of tomorrow.

Once Reid files that amendment, it will set up the key cloture vote on Monday at 1 a.m., requiring the support of 60 Senators to pass. While that would technically give him all of Sunday to win over Sen. Ben Nelson or any remaining holdouts, Reid would not be able to make any further changes to the bill in order to accommodate any Senator.

While a lot of people are focusing on Christmas Eve, the key vote will be that first cloture vote on Monday. If he gets 60 votes on that, the rest of the process will be a mere technicality.

So, while it sounds dramatic, the future of the nation’s health care system may be decided in the next 34 hours.

TPM:

As if Democrats didn’t have enough to worry about. Overnight and into tomorrow, Washington, D.C. is preparing for a major snow storm, complete with thunder and high winds. A winter snowpocalypse.

On any other weekend, that would be no biggy for Senate Democrats, but tomorrow, they need all hands on deck if they hope to keep on track to pass their health care bill by Christmas. And remember, they can’t afford a single slip-up.

So here’s another wrinkle: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has skipped town.

Already, they’ve wheeled in the cots for members and staff who choose to slumber party the night away in the Capitol, or Senate offices. But tomorrow, bright and early, all of them could need to be on hand for procedural reasons. For instance, Democrats expect to have to waive a budget point of order they expect Republicans to raise against the defense appropriations bill.

Potentially complicating matters, though is that Lieberman, who’s caused Democratic leadership no shortage of political heartburn on health care, isn’t even in town!

“After being assured by Democratic and Republican leaders that his vote was not needed to pass the Defense Appropriations bill, Senator Lieberman went to Connecticut to spend the Sabbath and the last night of Hanukkah with his wife, Hadassah, and their children and grandchildren,” reads a statement to TPMDC from Lieberman’s spokesman Marshall Wittmann.

That means Democrats will be relying on at least one Republican to help them get the defense bill over a procedural bump in order to push them back on to health care. They’re crossing their fingers.

But assuming they can get one vote, what happens if the snow keeps other members away? It could be a big problem. Leadership seemed confident earlier today that everybody would be present and accounted for tomorrow, and a bit surprised to learn that Lieberman had flown the coop. With all these added complications, don’t be surprised to hear a new Republican talking point: Even Mother Nature hates health care reform.

Another sneaky Saturday in the Senate — and Teddy K’s ghost rises again; Update: Nelson caves…but says he “reserves the right” to change his mind

By Michelle Malkin  •  December 19, 2009 01:14 AM

Scroll for updates…9:53am Eastern. Nelson caved. The Senate clerk is now reading the Reid amendment….the full, 383-page amendment is here…Democratic caucus is meeting off the floor. Nelson to speak at 10am Eastern. Dem leadership to crow at 10:45am Eastern….Nelson announces support at press conference. Says he is satisfied by abortion language. He reads a perfunctory statement praising Reid and White House, then says with the most passion in his voice: “I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote if there are material changes” made in conference.

Remember the last time Harry Reid was presiding over a sneaky holiday weekend on the Senate floor?

Yep. Right before Thanksgiving. November 21. It was “Cash for Cloture” day for Sen. Mary Landrieu, who secured a $300 million payoff to give the majority the required 60 votes for cloture on a Demcare bill…that has been replaced with another bill that the American public STILL HAS NOT SEEN.

Well, the word on the Hill as of late Friday night/early Saturday morning is that Dirty Harry has made “real progress” in “talks” with Democrat holdout Sen. Ben Nelson over abortion — and over his payoff.

Via AP:

In a statement issued late Friday night, Reid says he intends to unveil final revisions to the measure on Saturday and is confident they will prevail. Nelson also said real progress had been made but said there was nothing final. Nelson has been seeking greater restrictions on abortions as well as more money for his home state in last-minute talks.

“Blank check” indeed. Leave your bets on the final dollar amount.

Making an even greater joke of transparency, Reid will unveil his massive manager’s amendment and the CBO scoring of this legislative mystery meat on Saturday morning after the 7:30am Eastern defense authorization bill vote.

Yep. Around 7:30am Eastern on the Saturday before Christmas. When normal people are making breakfast for the kids, wrapping last-minute presents, cleaning their houses for out-of-town guests, or still sleeping.

Who conducts business this way?

Only people with something to hide.

Only furtive power brokers doing everything in their power to avoid full, public scrutiny and an open, deliberative process.

Welcome to another sneaky Saturday in the Senate brought to you by the Democrat culture of corruption.

Now, make sure to take time out of your busy Saturday before Christmas and burn up the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) with a clarion message for your Senators:

No. Hell no.

Say it louder and often. Spread the word. Sound the alarm. They are pretending not to hear you yet.

A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!

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More details of the Nelson negotiations from the LA Times:

Nelson, who has been pushing for tougher restrictions on federal funding for abortion, emerged from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office just after 9:30 p.m. following talks with Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a leading supporter of abortion rights.

Nelson provided few details about the negotiations. It’s “one of those situations where it’s probably best for everybody to sleep on it tonight and talk again tomorrow,” he said.

Boxer, who came out later, was more upbeat. “I’m optimistic that we can get 60 votes,” she said.

And from the WaPo:

Nelson told reporters late Friday that he remained dissatisfied with abortion-related language in the $848 billion bill. But he is also seeking changes to benefit his home state while easing the bill’s burden on factions of the health-care industry, including home health-care services and health-insurance providers.

“We’re working on a lot of things,” Nelson said during a break in the talks. “Whether we’ve decided anything or not, the answer is probably not.”

***

Desperate times for desperate Demcare demagogues call for desperate measures. Time to drag out Teddy Kennedy again!

The moment Ted Kennedy would not want to lose

My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars — and competing interests — were finally aligned to allow our nation to move forward with fundamental reform. He believed that health-care reform was essential to the financial stability of our nation’s working families and of our economy as a whole.

Still, Ted knew that accomplishing reform would be difficult. If it were easy, he told me, it would have been done a long time ago. He predicted that as the Senate got closer to a vote, compromises would be necessary, coalitions would falter and many ardent supporters of reform would want to walk away. He hoped that they wouldn’t do so. He knew from experience, he told me, that this kind of opportunity to enact health-care reform wouldn’t arise again for a generation.

***

The remaining holdouts to put on your phone list:

Olympia Snowe:

Mailing Address:
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 224-5344
Toll Free: (800) 432-1599
Fax: (202) 224-1946

Email form here.

James Webb and Claire McCaskill:

Webb contact info…

Washington, D.C.
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-4024
Fax: 202-228-6363

Toll Free Number
1-866-507-1570

Email form for Virginians here.

McCaskill contact info…

Missouri Office Locations
Please visit our Missouri offices

Cape Girardeau
555 Independence Room 1600
Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63703
Phone 573-651-0964
Fax 573-334-4278

Columbia
915 E. Ash St
Columbia, Mo 65201
Phone:573-442-7130
Fax:573-442-7140

Kansas City
4141 Pennsylvania, Ste. 101
Kansas City, MO 64111
Phone 816-421-1639
Fax 816-421-2562

Springfield
324 Park Central West
Suite 101
Springfield, MO 65806
Phone 417-868-8745
Fax 417-831-1349

St. Louis
5850 A Delmar Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63112
Phone:314-367-1364
Fax: 314-361-8649

Washington D.C.
For those visiting D.C., please stop by our office at:

Office of Senator Claire McCaskill
United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building, SH-717
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6154
FAX (202) 228-6326

***

9:53am Eastern. Nelson caved. The Senate clerk is now reading the Reid amendment. Democratic caucus is meeting off the floor.

Via Mike Allen at Politico:

HEALTH REFORM COULD EFFECTIVELY PASS AT 1 A.M. MONDAY, when Senate Democratic leaders hope to have the first of three cloture votes. If they get 60 votes then, they probably will have 60 through final passage. If Republicans follow through on their vow to insist that all the rules are followed (30 hours between cloture votes, with an intervening day), the last vote could be at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, according to a timeline distributed by leadership.

BOB SCHIEFFER, to Katie Couric, on last night’s “CBS Evening News”: “No one can say exactly what’s in it, how much it’s going to cost. What we’re hearing and seeing here tonight, Katie, is the legislative process at its worst.”

WHAT CHRISTMAS WEEK COULD LOOK LIKE, according to the Senate Dem timeline pasted here:

–SATURDAY, DEC 19th — 7:20 am – Final passage on DoD approps bill. Note: After the DoD bill is dispensed with, Leader Reid can file cloture on the manager’s amendment, the substitute amendment and the overall bill on health care.
–SUNDAY, DEC 20th — Wait for cloture to ripen
–MONDAY, DEC 21st — 1 am – Cloture vote on manager’s amendment
–TUESDAY, DEC 22nd –7 am – Cloture vote on substitute
–WEDNESDAY, DEC 23rd — 1 pm — Cloture vote on overall bill
–THURSDAY, CHRISTMAS EVE — 7 pm – Final passage vote on health care reform

At the bottom, the timeline says: “This schedule can be sped up if the Republicans decide to cooperate and yield back time rather than delaying and forcing 30 hours to be expended on each cloture motion.”

10:06am Eastern. Nelson says “I truly believe this legislation will stand the test of time…the lives of millions of Americans will be improved.” Says he signs on to the first cloture vote based on abortion compromise and other changes.

He reads a perfunctory statement praising Reid and White House, then says with the most passion in his voice:

“I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote if there are material changes” made in conference.

Another empty threat to raise hopes that he’ll be a maverick? Sigh, sounds like it.

Obama’s Radicalism Shows in his Appointments

December 19th, 2009

By David Limbaugh, WND

 Obama is not posing, he is legitimately a radical

I’m wondering whether there’s anyone out there with the guts to pretend that it’s insignificant that President Barack Obama keeps appointing radical after radical to his czar positions. Can anyone honestly say Obama’s appointments don’t tell us a great deal about Obama himself – as if we needed any further proof he is a left-wing extremist?

I don’t need to make a list of his radical appointees and detail proof of their extremism. Anyone paying attention knows it’s irrefutably true that this has become a deliberate pattern. Statistically, Obama couldn’t accidentally appoint this many radicals in two political lifetimes. Is he rubbing these people in our faces or just surrounding himself with like-minded soul mates – or both?

My educated guess is “both” because his general attitude toward governance has been utterly dictatorial. He knows what’s best for America – the type of America he envisions, anyway – and he will proceed to implement it, full well knowing that he’s violating the will of the majority every step of the way.

It’s truly sad to me that our federal government has expanded to the point that no one flinches at the thought that we need some federal bureaucrat in charge of making our local schools indoctrination facilities for homosexuality, er, safe.

As you know, Obama appointed known homosexual activist Kevin Jennings to the position.

Why would Obama, a self-professed Christian, choose Jennings, who admitted in his 2006 memoirs that he harbored a deep-seated hatred for God and religious believers at the time he embraced a homosexual lifestyle?

Read More:

Harder to buy US Treasuries IT is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US’s shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday.

Harder to buy US Treasuries

Created: 2009-12-18 0:13:35

Author:Zhou Xin and Jason Subler

IT is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US’s shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday.

The comments by Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, referred to the overall situation globally, not specifically to China, the biggest foreign holder of US government bonds.

Chinese officials generally are very careful about commenting on the dollar and Treasuries, given that so much of its US$2.3 trillion reserves are tied to their value, and markets always watch any such comments closely for signs of any shift in how it manages its assets.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange reaffirmed this month that the dollar stands secure as the anchor of the currency reserves it manages, even as the country seeks to diversify its investments.

In a discussion on the global role of the dollar, Zhu told an academic audience that it was inevitable that the dollar would continue to fall in value because Washington continued to issue more Treasuries to finance its deficit spending.

He then addressed where demand for that debt would come from.

“The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries,” Zhu said, according to an audio recording of his remarks. “Double the holdings? It is definitely impossible.”

“The US current account deficit is falling as residents’ savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world,” he added. “The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries.”

China continues to see its foreign exchange reserves grow, albeit at a slower pace than in past years, due to a large trade surplus and inflows of foreign investment. They stood at US$2.3 trillion at the end of September.