Karl Frederick
06-29-2011, 12:06 AM
Please support Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' request to President Obama to reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny. Here's the link so you can add your name as a co-signer to the letter:
https://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8
and the letter's text appears below:
Dear Mr. President,
This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today - which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth.
Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit - a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and insurance companies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny.
Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending.
Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.
Respectfully,
https://sanders.senate.gov/graphics/buzz/bernie-sig.jpg
Sen. Bernie Sanders;
and Co-signers
Iolchan
07-19-2011, 12:56 PM
There is also always the option of Nationalizing { or, Federalizing } the Federal Reserve Bank - and also the nascent notion, abroad, and blowin' in the wind, of the U.S. Treasury Department Nationalizing the National Debt, as well.
Just something to chew the fat on...
Speak2Truth
07-26-2011, 06:29 PM
Sorry, I can't co-sign this. The premise is seriously flawed.
The "rich" pay a disproportionately high percentage of income tax. And 50% of Americans pay none while screaming to bleed those who pay for more and more. That's just wrong. What ever happened to personal responsibility for providing for oneself, for making the effort to be self sufficient? We are not sheep to be penned up and handed our food, our roof and medicines while being fleeced.
Okay, maybe a lot of folks are happy with that arrangement but it is unjust to the people who actually put for the effort to create wealth, jobs and prosperity only to come under ever increasing attack by folks who scream "Take MORE from them!"
A nation does not become more prosperous by punishing those who create prosperity. Rather, it becomes prosperous when more and more people follow their example.
And what else is government doing with the assets it pillages? This list is from 2009. It's far worse today, with our cash being funneled into Al Gore's "Green" investment portfolio wreaking ecological havoc to produce mandated BioFuels - among many other new money-sucks.
The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper payments in 2008.[1] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn1)
Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP) versus $71 billion on homeland security.[2] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn2)
Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant federal properties.[3] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn3)
Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them -- costing taxpayers a total of $123 billion annually -- fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.[4] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn4)
The Congressional Budget Office published a "Budget Options" series identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.[5] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn5)
Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 safe water programs.[6] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn6)
Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.[7] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn7)
A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, including "over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.[8] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn8)
Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[9] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn9)
The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.[10] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn10)
The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from South Carolina to Florida.[11] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn11)
Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which report average household incomes of $200,000.[12] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn12)
Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion annually.[13] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn13)
A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a combined $295 billion in cost overruns.[14] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn14)
The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades.[15] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn15)
Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.[16] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn16)
Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.[17] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn17)
Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year's 10,160 earmarks included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.[18] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn18)
The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.[19] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn19)
The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.[20] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn20)
Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines -- plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.[21] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn21)
More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.[22] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn22)
Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos, and at least one sex change operation.[23] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn23)
Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.[24] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn24)
Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.[25] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn25)
The Transportation Department will subsidize up to $2,000 per flight for direct flights between Washington, D.C., and the small hometown of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) -- but only on Monday mornings and Friday evenings, when lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists usually fly. Rogers is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the Transportation Department's budget.[26] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn26)
Washington has spent $3 billion re-sanding beaches -- even as this new sand washes back into the ocean.[27] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn27)
A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5 billion in "stimulus" funding for broadband Internet will be wasted.[28] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn28)
The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.[29] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn29)
Washington spends $60,000 per hour shooting Air Force One photo-ops in front of national landmarks.[30] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn30)
Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 on admission to entertainment events, $48,250 on gambling, $69,300 on cruises, and $73,950 on exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.[31] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn31)
Members of Congress are set to pay themselves $90 million to increase their franked mailings for the 2010 election year.[32] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn32)
Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.[33] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn33)
Taxpayers are funding paintings of high-ranking government officials at a cost of up to $50,000 apiece.[34] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn34)
The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.[35] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn35)
Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards -- subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want. [36] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn36)
Congress appropriated $20 million for "commemoration of success" celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.[37] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn37)
Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.[38] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn38)
Two drafting errors in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act resulted in a $2 billion taxpayer cost.[39] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn39)
North Ridgeville, Ohio, received $800,000 in "stimulus" funds for a project that its mayor described as "a long way from the top priority."[40] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn40)
The National Institutes of Health spends $1.3 million per month to rent a lab that it cannot use.[41] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn41)
Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.[42] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn42)
Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers -- the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.[43] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn43)
Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.[44] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn44)
Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.[45] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn45)
Washington recently spent $1.8 million to help build a private golf course in Atlanta, Georgia.[46] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn46)
The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses; 40 percent of this funding goes to Fortune 500 companies.[47] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn47)
Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the Department of Education.[48] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn48)
The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.[49] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn49)
The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 computers since 2001, many containing Americans' personal data.[50] (https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste#_edn50)
Speak2Truth
07-26-2011, 06:31 PM
#1 A total of $3 million (https://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/12/grateful-dead-tom-coburn-wasteful-spending-/1?csp=hf) has been granted to researchers at the University of California at Irvine so that they can play video games such as World of Warcraft. The goal of this "video game research" is reportedly to study how "emerging forms of communication, including multiplayer computer games and online virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life can help organizations collaborate and compete more effectively in the global marketplace."
#2 The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the University of New Hampshire $700,000 (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-tom-coburn-criticizes-wasteful-government-programs-2010/story?id=12437190&tqkw=&tqshow=WN) this year to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows.
#3 $615,000 (https://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/12/grateful-dead-tom-coburn-wasteful-spending-/1?csp=hf) was given to the University of California at Santa Cruz to digitize photos, T-shirts and concert tickets belonging to the Grateful Dead.
#4 A professor at Stanford University received $239,100 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) to study how Americans use the Internet to find love. So far one of the key findings of this "research" is that the Internet is a safer and more discreet way to find same-sex partners.
#5 The National Science Foundation spent $216,000 (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-tom-coburn-criticizes-wasteful-government-programs-2010/story?id=12437190&tqkw=&tqshow=WN) to study whether or not politicians "gain or lose support by taking ambiguous positions."
#6 The National Institutes of Health spent approximately $442,340 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) to study the behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam.
#7 Approximately $1 million (https://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/12/grateful-dead-tom-coburn-wasteful-spending-/1?csp=hf) of U.S. taxpayer money was used to create poetry for the Little Rock, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Chicago zoos. The goal of the "poetry" is to help raise awareness on environmental issues.
#8 The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.
#9 $1.8 million (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) of U.S. taxpayer dollars went for a "museum of neon signs" in Las Vegas, Nevada.
#10 $35 million (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) was reportedly paid out by Medicare to 118 "phantom" medical clinics that never even existed. Apparently these "phantom" medical clinics were established by a network of criminal gangs as a way to defraud the U.S. government.
#11 The Conservation Commission of Monkton, Vermont got $150,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) from the federal government to construct a "critter crossing". Thanks to U.S. government money, the lives of "thousands" of migrating salamanders are now being saved.
#12 In California, one park received $440,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) in federal funds to perform "green energy upgrades" on a building that has not been used for a decade.
#13 $440,955 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) was spent this past year on an office for former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert that he rarely even visits.
#14 One Tennessee library was given $5,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) in federal funds to host a series of video game parties.
#15 The U.S. Census Bureau spent $2.5 million (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-tom-coburn-criticizes-wasteful-government-programs-2010/story?id=12437190&page=1) on a television commercial during the Super Bowl that was so poorly produced that virtually nobody understood what is was trying to say.
#16 A professor at Dartmouth University received $137,530 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) to create a "recession-themed" video game entitled "Layoff".
#17 The National Science Foundation gave the Minnesota Zoo over $600,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) so that they could develop an online video game called "Wolfquest".
#18 A pizzeria in Iowa was given $60,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) to renovate the pizzeria's facade and give it a more "inviting feel".
#19 The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave one enterprising group of farmers $30,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) to develop a tourist-friendly database of farms that host guests for overnight "haycations". This one sounds like something that Dwight Schrute would have dreamed up.
#20 Almost unbelievably, the National Institutes of Health was given $800,000 (https://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18) in "stimulus funds" to study the impact of a "genital-washing program" on men in South Africa.
In light of all this, is it any wonder why the approval rating of Congress recently hit another new record low?
According to the most recent Gallup poll, only 13 percent (https://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/house/congress-approval-rating-hits.html) of Americans approve of the job that Congress is doing.