Tag Archives: United States Congress

May 16

ONLY 1 OTHER COUNTRY HAS DEBT CEILING…..

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A February 2011 Government Accountability Office report said experts believe there is a “weakness in the U.S. budgetary framework” because Congress can approve spending without approving the borrowing necessary to fund that spending. This can cause uneasiness in the market. RESULT: MIDDLE CLASS AND POOR LOSE JOBS, BENEFITS, etc. YOU KNOW WHO’S CAUSING IT?  CALL THEM AND VOTE THEM OUT.

abcnews.go.com

ABC News‘ Amy Bingham reports:

It’s 14 days and counting until financial apocalypse descends upon U.S. markets, yet lawmakers are still seemingly eons away from striking a deal to reduce the deficit and raise the debt limit. The ferocity of the debate coupled with the warnings of impending doom begs the question, why does America have a debt ceiling in the first place?

A report released Monday by Moody’s analyst Steven Hess points out that the United States’ debt limit “is an uncommon attribute not shared by most” countries. The U.S. is the only democratic country, besides Denmark, in which Congress has to approve borrowing separately from spending. In most other countries the authority to borrow money is inextricably tied to the authority to spend money.

For example, in Canada the executive branch can borrow as much money approved to spend in the yearly budget.  In Sweden, borrowing is also linked to the budget, although the legislature does not decide how much money the Finance Minister can borrow but instead decides how many programs it can fund.

And in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the Treasury department has the authority to borrow as much as they need to fund congressionally approved spending.

Much more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/07/only-one-democratic-country-besides-america-has-a-debt-ceiling/

Dec 29

WHY YOU SHOULD OCCUPY YOUR CONGRESSPERSONS……..

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The economic gap between average Americans and our elected representatives in Congress has grown tremendously since the 1980s, according to an analysis conducted by The Washington Post.
 
Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars (excluding home equity). Meanwhile, the wealth of an American family has declined slightly over the same period, from $20,600 to $20,500.
 
While perhaps unsurprising – this mirrors the growing income inequality gap in the country – the growing divide between legislators and those they are supposed to represent has troubling implications for the health of our democracy. The greater the economic distance between average Americans and our lawmakers, the more our government “of the people, by the people” will become a government “of the 1%, by the 1%.”
 
 
Sep 21

MILLIONAIRES: USA 1%; CONGRESS 46%. SEE PROBLEM?

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?1% Millionaires in USA. 46% MILLIONAIRES IN THE CONGRESS. SEE THE PROBLEM? No wonder the majority of them want reduced taxes while taking benefits from middle class, poor & elderly, students, etc. Read or listen below.-mackie

 
President Obama’s “Buffett Rule” would mean a new tax for people who make more than a million dollars a year, who currently pay a much lower rate than an average middle-class American. The president, in fact, proposed this rule to a group of people with a lot of millionaires in it: Congress.

President Obama continued laying what may be more groundwork for his re-election campaign Monday, including a new tax proposal. He calls it the “Buffett rule”: a new tax on people making more than $1million a year, who currently pay a much lower rate than an average middle-class American. The president, in fact, proposed this rule to a group of people with a lot of millionaires in it.

The number of Americans who are millionaires is pretty low — about 1 percent of the population. Members of Congress who are millionaires? Nearly 50 percent.

Aug 31

CANTOR: NO DISASTER RELIEF UNTIL SPENDING CUTS

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This week, Virginia experienced a magnitude 5.8 earthquake, one of the most powerful tremors on the east coast since 1897. As Virginians scramble to assess the damage, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) quickly returned from his trip in Israel to survey the damage done to his congressional district.“There is an appropriate federal role in incidents like this,” Cantor said. That role? The bare minimum. According to Cantor, Congress’s traditional practice of providing disaster relief without strings attached — a policy its followed for years — is going way beyond the call of duty. If Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) asks for federal aid, Cantor insists that the relief be offset elsewhere in the federal budget:      This week, Virginia experienced a magnitude 5.8 earthquake, one of the most powerful tremors on the east coast since 1897. As Virginians scramble to assess the damage, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) quickly returned from his trip in Israel to survey the damage done to his congressional district.“There is an appropriate federal role in incidents like this,” Cantor said. That role? The bare minimum. According to Cantor, Congress’s traditional practice of providing disaster relief without strings attached — a policy its followed for years — is going way beyond the call of duty. If Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) asks for federal aid, Cantor insists that the relief be offset elsewhere in the federal budget:

 
Why is he monkeying with this? Here’s how you reduce spendlng: adjust your own healthcare, retirement plan, benefits, job security, etc. to what the middle class has in your own district. Also, pay $$ back the billions politicians have borrowed. One more thing: approve us being able to fire any politician on the spot who is not following the desires of his/her district.
 
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-2
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12

 

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Aug 19

WHY WE NEED WHISTLE BLOWERS AND REGULATORS…….

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MANY YRS AGO WHEN I WAS A STUDENT PASTOR I had a member who called me about once a week after midnight.  His family had gone to bed and  left him up drunk.  After a few visitations I asked him what he drank and where he got it.  He was too proud to go to a liquor store but told me a old man down the road bought liquor during the day, put it in a old bag, tied a long transparent fish line to it and a tree near his pond and hid it there so he could sell it at night.  Did I call the SBI in NC and let them know about the old man with the sack?
Why do we rant and rave when poor families may be getting a little too much welfare, but remain silent when the big moneyhandlers steal us blind and we say nothing? Why do we lock a poor man up when he may steal something small but turn our heads when a rich person steals millions?~mackie
OVER 9,000 SEC DOCUMENTS DESTROYED…..
A staff member at the Securities and Exchange Commission has complained to Congress that thousands of investigative documents have been destroyed by the agency.
Longtime SEC staffer Darcy Flynn says some of those missing papers relate to huge investment banks under the spotlight for their role in the 2008 mortgage crisis.
Flynn is asking Congress to protect him from retaliation after blowing the whistle on document destruction that he says stretches back for 20 years. Some of the missing files involve early-stage inquiries the agency made into the workings of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Lehman Bros.
“The same big banks that delivered us the 2008 financial crisis,” says Gary Aguirre, a lawyer in San Diego who brought Flynn’s allegations to the attention of Congress.
Aguirre, a former SEC whistle-blower himself, is one of many people who are calling for more accountability on Wall Street and for more action from the SEC.
“I just think that when you’ve destroyed 9,000 files of investigations, it makes sweeping under the table a lot easier,” he says.
Mar 28

WHY WE NEED RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?

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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”


WHY DO WE NEED THIS?  According to the latest census in the next few decades A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS MIGHT NOT BELIEVE IN THE GOD YOU OR I BELIEVE IN. WOULD YOU WANT CONGRESS TO ESTABLISH A RELIGION THAT HAD THE MOST VOTES?


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.

 

 

Jul 16

GREENSPAN: LET BUSH TAXCUTS DIE.

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What is the opposition singing now? -editor

Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan is calling for Congress to let the Bush tax cuts die. As stated in Bloomberg News, he speaks not as a liberal but as a deficit hawk.

  Greenspan, who originally pushed for the Bush tax cuts, now says that was a mistake. He made the statement during the recording of a Bloomberg TV show that will run over the weekend.

  My friend, Bloomberg reporter Mike Dorning, writes:

 

 For more click on:

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/07/16/128564378/alan-greenspan-let-bush-tax-cuts-die

Aug 12

THE PROS AND CONS OF THE PUBLIC OPTION…

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In “The Perils of the Public Plan,” Paul Starr warns that a public-insurance option could turn into exactly the opposite of what progressives want. Here he discusses the problems with the Prospect‘s two other co-founders, Robert Kuttner and Robert Reich. 

Paul Starr:
According to last week’s Washington Post, the public option is the “crux” of the health-reform debate and the “greatest challenge” for Senate negotiators to overcome. That’s an accurate description of the current political scene, but it’s true only because so many people, including members of Congress, are responding ideologically to the ideaof government involvement.

The public option is not the biggest question in reform. Under the proposals being considered, it would be offered only within insurance exchanges at the state and regional level. The far bigger question is how those exchanges work:

For the rest of the debate click on:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=debating_the_public_option

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