Taxes

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Free Trade - Government - Illinois - Jobs - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel

December 6, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Most Chicagoans are assuming that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will become the next mayor of Chicago. But while the perception might satisfy many folks in the Windy City, at least one powerful Democratic sector isn’t so sure they are happy with the whole idea. Chicago’s union leaders are not very fond of the distempered former Chief of Staff.

Big Labor has been put off on Emanuel since he helped Bill Clinton get the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passed in the 1990s when Emanuel was a Congressman from Chicago’s 5th District.

Emanuel also has a history of dissing Big Labor. At least he’s put other interests ahead of Big Labor enough times that labor leaders are not overly fond of the diminutive candidate.
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Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel”

Budget - Chicago - Chicago Sun-Times - Cook County Board - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Democrat Hires Entire Family to Run Town of 200 Residents (Media Forgets to Mention He’s a Democrat)

November 22, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Newly elected Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski is leaving the office of mayor of the Village of McCook, Illinois. Now, a few weeks after the election, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that he and his father before him have filled village government with relatives from top to bottom raking in a combined $350,000 in yearly salary (not including benefits), tax money elicited from a tiny village of only 200 some residents.

Naturally, in another installment of the “name that party” game, the Chicago Sun-Times seemed to somehow forget to mention in its coverage of this outrageous nepotism that Tobolski is yet another corrupt Democrat who is only in government for personal enrichment and to dole out goodies, high paying jobs, and pension benefits to his relatives.

Also just as naturally, the Chicago Sun-Times somehow forget to release this story before the recent election. Obviously the Times didn’t want to hurt the election chances of this Democrat on Nov. 2.
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Democrat Hires Entire Family to Run Town of 200 Residents (Media Forgets to Mention He’s a Democrat)”

Budget - Chicago - Cook County Board - Economy/Finances - GOP - Illinois - Property Taxes - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

County Gov’t Update: Property Tax Info and More

November 21, 2010 by

From the office of Timothy O. Schneider, Cook County Commissioner…

Property Tax Information

Residents should have received their 2009 2nd installment property tax bills last week. The property tax bills are due December 13, 2010. Many people in the Northwest suburbs noticed an increase in their property tax bill this year. The Illinois Department of Revenue set a record high multiplier of 3.3701 to bring assessment in line with the rest of the state, up more than 13 percent from last year. When the General Assembly extended the 7 percent homeowners exemption the amount of the exemption decreased from $26,000 to $20,000.

It is important to remember that Cook County has not raised its property tax levy for 16 years. In addition, please note your property tax bill is now itemized, detailing exactly where your tax dollars are being spent (school district, municipality, township, county, ect.).
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County Gov’t Update: Property Tax Info and More”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Earmarks - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Mitch McConnell - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Senate Republicans Vote to Ban Earmarks

November 17, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, after Senate GOP minority leader Mitch McConnell agreed to go along with the anti-earmark policy that the Tea Party voters were urging, the Senate voted to ban earmarked spending.

Earmarks are those little spending clauses added to bills that otherwise have nothing at all to do with the earmark and are emblematic of the wasteful spending indulged by Congress.

According to Roll Call:

Senate Republicans threw down the earmark gauntlet Tuesday by adopting a resolution calling on Democrats to adopt a voluntary ban moments after they adopted an identical ban of their own.

The challenge, authored by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), calls for Democrats to swear off requests for “a congressionally directed spending item, limited tax benefit or limited tariff benefit” during the 112th Congress.

Adopted by voice vote by the Republican Conference, the challenge came shortly after GOP Senators agreed to an identical ban proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.). Although Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.) objected to the ban — and expressed his strong opposition to it during the GOP’s closed-door meeting — he did not block a voice vote on the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has repeatedly dismissed demands for a moratorium on earmarks over the last several days.

Notice, folks, that the Democrats want to continue unabated the wasteful spending by our representatives in both the House and the Senate. Democrats live to waste our tax dollars.

It is heartening that the Republicans have heard the voters and are willing to follow that directive to begin the long, hard road to end wasteful spending. Certainly eliminating earmarks are a tiny step in the right direction, but it is a step and a welcome one, indeed.
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Senate Republicans Vote to Ban Earmarks”

Budget - California - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Sports - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

L.A. Sports Stadium Project More Important Than Libraries, Police, Firemen?

November 17, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The 2010 elections are now history. If there was any lesson from this Republican tidal wave that swept across the country it is that the vast majority of Americans are furious at the overspending and flawed leadership of our politicians. Voters are no longer so easily fooled by claims that wild spending sprees are beneficial. California was spared the GOP tidal wave but California voters of all stripes voted in droves to impose a high threshold on imposing any new taxes (what was LA turnout). In the City of Los Angeles real pain is being felt as libraries are shut down due to budgetary cuts with police and firefighters next on the chopping block. Yet even with all these cuts in services, politicians in the City of Los Angeles are still considering a multi-million dollar subsidy — using taxpayer dollars – for the problematic Staples NFL Stadium project.

Across the country voters are starting to veer away from supporting public money going to fund stadiums and other such entertainment projects. Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that, “taxpayers are opposing agreements to fund baseball projects after a decades long boom in publicly financed ballparks.” It appears that L.A. has not learned its lesson from November 2nd.
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L.A. Sports Stadium Project More Important Than Libraries, Police, Firemen?”

ACORN - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Regulation - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Former ACORN Worker Takes Plea Deal for Vote Fraud

November 12, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Just prior to the election we discovered that in the state of Nevada the former chief of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now’s (ACORN) affiliated Project Vote organization was under indictment for voter fraud. This week we learn that Amy Busefink has coped a plea deal on charges of illegally paying “bonus” payments to workers registering voters during the 2008 election.

Busefink entered a plea on two gross misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit the crime of compensating people for registering voters and faced 13 felony counts for the same. The fact that Busefink accepted this plea deal means that she as much as admitted that the state had the evidence to convict her.

Busefink will soon be sentenced.
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Former ACORN Worker Takes Plea Deal for Vote Fraud”

ACORN - Budget - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - President - Warner Todd Huston

Another Reminder: ACORN Isn’t Dead

November 10, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The New York Post reminds us of an important fact: ACORN isn’t dead. It is merely attempting to morph into a new group with a different name in order to shed its ruined reputation. It has no intention, though, of disappearing entirely like it should.

I’ve also mentioned before that this assumption that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is defunct is not a good assumption to make. These hardcore leftists won’t give up easily.

Interestingly, the new ACORN will also launch in an effort to skip out on the old ACORN’s creditors. That’s typical, isn’t it? So, to skip out on creditors and to get out from under it’s ruined reputation and name, ACORN plans to rebrand itself.
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Another Reminder: ACORN Isn’t Dead”

Air Force - Anti-Americanism - Anti-War - Barack Obama - Budget - Constitution - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Liberals - Military - President - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Saddest Letter Ever From One of Our Military Vets!

November 8, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Major Mike Banzet of the U.S. Air Force retired this year after more than 20 years in service to his country. He didn’t do so happily, either. To explain himself he published a long letter in the Daily Inter Lake that is a spot on attack on America’s misguided support of the Democratic Party.

As I said Major Banzet really didn’t want to retire. He had to. He had to because he couldn’t live with a political party like the Democrats having any power at all in this country. With the anti-American attitude that the Democrat’s elected officials demonstrate, I can’t blame him.

Banzet was hardnosed and leveled serious charges. But they all ring true.
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Saddest Letter Ever From One of Our Military Vets!”

Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Warner Todd Huston

Chicago’s Lefty on Lefty Hatin’

November 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

This has been an interesting election cycle we are living through, hasn’t it? But another interesting one is soon to unfold in Chicago as the Mayor’s seat becomes up for grabs next year.

The fun has already begun here in Chi-Town. Not long ago, for instance, an amusing little episode of lefty on lefty hatin’ erupted in Chicago between long-time racebaiting activist and Congressman Luis Gutierrez and AFSCME President Gerry McEntee that is simply too delicious to ignore.

Ordinarily, you’d think that a left-wing, Democrat congressman would be fast friends with the president of one of America’s biggest public employees unions. But these two titans of leftism have found themselves embroiled in local Chicago politics.
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Chicago’s Lefty on Lefty Hatin’”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Money - President - Stimulus - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Said ‘Things Will Get Better,’ For This Woman They Didn’t

November 5, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last January, Jennifer Cline sent a letter to President Obama telling him of her woes. She had been diagnosed with two kinds of cancer, she lost her job and was about to lose her home. Surprisingly the president wrote her back and told her that “things will get better.”

Apparently they haven’t.

Cline has been forced to sell Obama’s letter to an historical autographs dealer for $7,000 to try and help her over the hump because things have gotten no better for the woman and her family in the nearly nine months since she sent her original letter.
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Obama Said ‘Things Will Get Better,’ For This Woman They Didn’t”

ACORN - Barack Obama - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Regulation - Socialism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

ACORN’s Get-Out-The-Vote Operative Under State Felony Charges

October 27, 2010 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Contrary to popular perception, the criminal group ACORN (Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now) is not quite a’moulderin’ in the grave, folks. Many might recall that Congress turned off the spigot of federal funds flowing into the coffers of the organization responsible for federal election law crimes all across the country. Many might all recall that ACORN itself eventually said it would shutter its operations.

But even with all that recent history, ACORN’s Project Vote is still in operation and one of its main directors is a woman under a cloud of criminal charges in the state of Nevada.

Project Vote is supposed to be separate from ACORN, at least on paper. But as Matthew Vadum writes, “Although legally separate entities, in practice the two are the same, as the congressional testimony of former ACORN/Project Vote employee Anita MonCrief can attest. They share office space, employees, and budgets. Project Vote continues to operate out of ACORN’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.”
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ACORN’s Get-Out-The-Vote Operative Under State Felony Charges”

Chicago Tribune - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Patriotism - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Former ACORN Worker Justifies Preventing Pledge of Allegiance at Illinois Candidate Debate

October 24, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Thanks to Jeff Dunetz at Yid With Lid we have found out that a former ACORN worker turned director of the League of Women Voters has been heard justifying actions of the debate moderator who tried to prevent the audience at an 8th District candidate debate from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance last week.

As the debate began someone in the crowd yelled out asking if they were going to start the night’s activities with the pledge. The moderator of the debate nixed the idea saying “no we are not.” Then when the crowd expressed its shock and dismay she said “excuse me,” and “it has never been part of…” at which time she was interrupted by the entire crowd reciting the pledge anyway.

For days the controversy has raged since the October 20 debate where debate moderator Kathy Tate-Bradish tried to prevent the people from reciting the pledge. Then on Oct. 22, there was an outrageous story that Executive Director Jan Czarnik of the League of Women Voters was lambasting the pledge controversy as a stunt set up by GOP candidate Joe Walsh and an example of “phony patriotism.”

So the LWV thinks reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is “phony patriotism,” eh?

Disgusting.
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Former ACORN Worker Justifies Preventing Pledge of Allegiance at Illinois Candidate Debate”

Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - TV News - Warner Todd Huston

Old Media Shields Rahm Emmanuel From Conservative Reporter, Threaten Violence

October 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is really outrageous. William Kelly, who has a program on the weekends on Chicago’s WIND radio, went out with the rest of the media shadowing Rahm Emanuel as he walked around meeting and greeting Chicago voters yesterday. The outrageous part was that Kelly, a conservative, was pushed away by one self-professed “real” reporter and threatened with violence from another simply for asking Emanuel if he thought the stimulus was a failure.

I am very familiar with William Kelly as I’ve worked with him off and on for the last year since his run for State Comptroller in the primary. Certainly Kelly is somewhat of a gadfly in Republican politics in Chicago, but for the Old Media to push him around and threaten to “deck” him is way out of bounds. Further, Kelly is just as much a “real” journalist as they are and has just as much right to ask candidate Emanuel a question as they do.
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Old Media Shields Rahm Emmanuel From Conservative Reporter, Threaten Violence”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Budget Mess Deepens: Using 2011 Funds to Pay 2010 Bills

October 8, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

From The Bond Buyer, a website that tracks news on the bond market we see that the president’s home state is in an ever deeper budget hole every day.

In a stark illustration of Illinois’ deteriorating balance sheet, the state ended the first quarter of fiscal 2011 with $5.5 billion in overdue bills and faces a possible structural deficit of at least $15 billion in the next fiscal year if no action is taken, Comptroller Dan Hynes warned in his quarterly report.

The state closed out fiscal 2010 on June 30 owing $4.7 billion in bills. Another $1.7 billion of bills incurred in fiscal 2010 were submitted by an Aug. 30 deadline to bring the total level of fiscal 2010 bills to $6.4 billion. That figure represents 23% of fiscal 2010 general fund revenue.

Worse, the state is robbing Peter to pay Paul by taking money from the 2011 budget to pay 2010 bills. The state of Illinois is in fiscal meltdown and instead of cutting cost they are simply stealing money from future budgets to pay today’s bills. Worse, there really IS no future budget because the state has failed to pass one.
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Illinois Budget Mess Deepens: Using 2011 Funds to Pay 2010 Bills”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Military - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Feds Build $1 Billion Virginia Office Complex Without Parking Or Roads to Get To It

October 6, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The federal government has built a one billion dollar office complex in Virginia to house some 6,400 Pentagon workers that are to be moved soon. It’s a beautiful new office complex that rises like a mountain next to Northern Virginia’s I-395. But there are a few little problems. There is no parking for one thing and for another, even if there was a parking lot for 6,400 workers, there are no roads to GET them there!

That’s right, there is no access that won’t cause tremendous traffic jams for the area. Worse, there aren’t any bus or Metro train stops anywhere near the building so workers cannot even take advantage of the Washington area’s extensive public transportation network to get to their new offices.

Since the problem was fully realized the state and the feds have been arguing back and forth about the traffic problem all to no avail. No ramp from the highway has been built because the plan offered put that ramp too close to a nature area and no local roads can handle the additional traffic for 6,000 some workers.
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Feds Build $1 Billion Virginia Office Complex Without Parking Or Roads to Get To It”

Barack Obama - Budget - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Liberals - President - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Tearful Emanuel Leaves WH Job, Says Obama Leads in ‘Toughest Times’ in History?

October 1, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the worst kept secret in D.C., White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel officially left his post in a tearful press conference on the morning of Oct. 1.

Most of what Mr. Emanuel had to say was your normal, average, everyday puffery that a junior member of a team says when he is leaving his position. Emanuel’s thanks-for-the-memories address was all perfectly innocuous… except for one thing.

Early in his remarks Emanuel issued some hortatory for his boss, President Obama. “I want to thank you for being the toughest leader any country can ask for in the toughest times any country has ever faced,” Emanuel said.

Now, some may think that this is just glad-handing of the sort that one might expect of an underling leaving his beloved boss. But this is far more revealing than that.

Just think of what Emanuel said, here. He claimed that his president has led through the “toughest times any country has ever faced.” Tougher than the Revolution when we weren’t even sure we’d make it as a nation? Tougher than what Madison faced in the War of 1812 when the White House was nearly burnt to the ground? Tougher than the Civil War that Lincoln faced? Tougher than WWI, the Great Depression, WWII?
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Tearful Emanuel Leaves WH Job, Says Obama Leads in ‘Toughest Times’ in History?”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Ill. Ranks Second After California for Worst Financial Shape in Country

October 1, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

According to Bloomberg News, “Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc.’s dividend cut in 2008, will release a report rating California’s financial condition as the worst among the 15 largest U.S. states.” Illinois ranks second in the worst category.

After California, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio tie as the second-worst, followed by Michigan, Georgia, New York and Florida, Fortune reported. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts garnered neutral rankings. Her report ranks Texas, Virginia, Washington and North Carolina as the best states, according to Fortune.

The final report was the result of two years of work made more difficult by the fact that few states are very transparent in their budgeting, said Whitney.
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Ill. Ranks Second After California for Worst Financial Shape in Country”

Budget - California - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Entertainment - Free Trade - Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Sports - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

The Coming Staples Mausoleum/Stadium

September 30, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Even as supporters claim they won’t need subsidies, it is more likely that L.A. is about to plunge itself forever into debt with a new stadium, the Staples Center. A look at just about any other convention center, or stadium in the country easily shows that these projects seldom pay for themselves as builders insist that they will do. Yet, every time you turn around another city is falling for this false hope.

Unfortunately it is almost impossible for the average citizen to track where the budget money is going in any particular city budget. As we learned from Bell, California people have even been duped into making city politicians millionaires and millions have been misspent.

Cities shift funds from one department to another with such regularity that tracking it is difficult. If the City of Bell is any lesson we need far more transparency in city budgeting.

But it shouldn’t be any surprise to the city fathers of LA that the Staples Center will never pay for itself. After all, the Convention Center has lost millions every year, too, and now they intend to tear down part of that losing venture to build yet another losing venture. According to the L.A. Almanac, in 2005 the convention center brought in $9,130,000. Appropriations for the convention center, however, were 21,608,518. That is an operating loss.
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The Coming Staples Mausoleum/Stadium”

ACORN - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Liberals - Lobbyists - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Vadum: A Reminder, ACORN Funding NOT Permanently Cut Off

September 29, 2010 by 6 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Matthew Vadum, ever vigilant on the evils perpetrated by ACORN, reminds us that the criminal community organizer has not had its federal funding cut off permanently. The temporary cut off is soon to expire and Vadum reports that there doesn’t seem to be anyone in Congress taking up a reinstatement of the ban.

In his Sept. 28 piece at the American Spectator, Vadum says that many people are confused about the funding ban imagining it was permanent.

This confusion about ACORN can probably be blamed in part on the quirks of parliamentary procedure and the complexity of the appropriations process. The legal language prohibiting the funding is contained in spending legislation that covers only the federal government’s current fiscal year which ends this Sept. 30.

The current funding ban is due to run out soon.

So is Congress making to fix this lack of attention on ACORN?
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Vadum: A Reminder, ACORN Funding NOT Permanently Cut Off”

Abortion - Budget - Chris Christie - Economy/Finances - Education - GOP - Government - Media - New Jersey - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Shuttering New Jersey Abortion Mills: Another Reason Why Christie is a Hero

September 28, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Aside from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie taking the fight to the state’s greedy, education-killing teachers union the Gov has also struck a blow against rampant abortion in the Garden State by taking away state funding to abortion mills. Steven Ertelt reports that at least one Planned Parenthood office is closing down and others are looking to “creative” budgeting to stay open.

In July Governor Christie vetoed a bill that would restore the $7.5 million of state funding that the legislature tried to implement after Christie removed that funding from the budget. Democrats in Trenton thought they had enough votes to override Christie’s veto, but at the last minute state Republicans backed out of signing onto the override.

Parenthood of Southern New Jersey president Lynn Brown told the newspaper, “We are in think mode and creative mode and we are doing all that we can to try and salvage to see as many people as we need to see.”

“We all know it’s strictly ideological,” Brown said of the funding cuts to the abortion business. “This is a very frustrating and perplexing time for us.”

Perplexing? What is so hard about understanding that the state is nearly bankrupt and can’t be wasting money on killing babies?
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Shuttering New Jersey Abortion Mills: Another Reason Why Christie is a Hero”

AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Anti-Semitism - Anti-War - Communism - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Green Party - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Socialism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Leftwits Try to Top Beck With October Rally in D.C.

September 26, 2010 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The leftists are trying to emulate both Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement by having their own march on D.C. and it is coming in but a few days. They are claiming that “hundreds of thousands” of their extreme leftist compatriots will gather at the Lincoln Memorial on October 2 for a left-wing bacchanalia at our nation’s capitol.

They are calling it “One Nation Working Together,” and it is yet one more left-wing, extremist attempt to employ Orwellian language to name an event because, Lord knows, they don’t include the millions of conservative Americans in that “one nation” title!

Here is what they are saying of their poor attempt to emulate Beck:
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Leftwits Try to Top Beck With October Rally in D.C.”

ACORN - Budget - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Government Report Says ACORN Spinoff Illicitly Got Federal Funding

September 25, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A report by the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the ACORN Housing Corporation improperly received millions in federal funds. The report demands that the group repay the ill-gotten gain.

The organization later changed its name to Affordable Housing Centers of America after ACRON’s name was so badly tarnished by revelations of its corruption.

The report said that more than $9 million went to the organization and that some 80 percent of the $3.25 million received between 2008 and 2009 went to salaries for ACORN employees.
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Government Report Says ACORN Spinoff Illicitly Got Federal Funding”

Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Environment - Free Trade - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Oil - President - Regulation - Warner Todd Huston

Obama to Dumb Down Car Ratings Stickers

September 23, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Earlier this month the Obama administration floated a trial balloon about changing the way vehicle information stickers on new cars would be structured. The administration floated the idea of letter grades instead of the more full information that vehicle stickers now contain. The most fuel-efficient would get and “A” rating with less green cars having descending grades.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the letter grades would be used to rate compliance with reen policies. Electric vehicles would be the only ones to get the “A” rating with gas-powered cars getting lesser grades.

On the website of Edmunds.com, a consumer advocate outlet, the response to the letter grading idea was swift and negative. One point made on the site is particularly poignant. An Edmunds respondent said, “Having a giant letter grade will influence buyers too much. Auto companies will start making incredibly fuel efficient cars to get an A grade, which is good, but the over-all quality of the car itself could be lowered.” The rest of the comments were equally negative.
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Obama to Dumb Down Car Ratings Stickers”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - House of Representatives - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Elite Favors: Congressmen Payoff Staffer’s College Loans

September 17, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

They call it a “recruitment tool,” but it is little else but yet another way for Congressional elites to give each other favors on the taxpayer’s dime. As Americans are increasingly losing jobs, even their homes, congressmen are using taxpayer’s dollars to pay off the student loans of their staffers. Worse, this has been going on since 1990.

The law was enacted in 1990 and updated in 2000 with the idea that congress could use this incentive to lure good applicants to congressional staffs.

As a 2002 report on the program states:

More than a decade ago, Congress authorized a student loan repayment program for highly qualified professional, administrative, and technical federal personnel covered by the General Schedule (GS). Section 1206(b) of P.L. 101-510, enacted on November 5, 1990,1 responded to a recommendation of the National Commission on the Public Service that a loan forgiveness program be established for federal service.2 The commission found, in its April 1989 report, that the federal government had serious problems in recruiting and retaining a quality workforce. Student loan repayment is viewed as a way to make government service more attractive to candidates, many of whom have incurred significant student loan debts in acquiring their education.

I like that: “Student loan repayment is viewed as a way to make government service more attractive to candidates…”
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Elite Favors: Congressmen Payoff Staffer’s College Loans”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Politico Cries Over Lost Jobs of Hill Staffers in November

September 17, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

“I think people underestimate how disastrous this could be,” says a Democrat Congressional staffer who worries over losing his job once all the new Republicans sweep into Congress after the November elections. Politico’s Erika Lovley seems also to worry about the “massive layoffs” that will come to staffers in November. But to me this is one type of job loss to celebrate not cry over.

Lovley gravely warns that if Republicans win big in the elections, “it’s not just elected Democrats who will be unemployed — more than 1,500 Democratic staffers could lose their jobs, with layoffs stretching from low-wage staff assistants to six-figure committee aides.”

Oh the humanities. Time to warm up the tiniest violin in the world to accompany this pity party.
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Politico Cries Over Lost Jobs of Hill Staffers in November”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Entertainment - Government - Liberals - Sports - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Stadium Deal in LA a Moneypit

September 7, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Whenever I think of this new Staples sports stadium deal going down in Los Angeles I can’t help but think of the “bread and circuses” that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is the City of L.A. sinking millions into this entertainment project leaving the people destitute and all for what? After all, as I wrote in the last column, these stadiums don’t seem to pay for themselves. So why is LA doing this? Is it just the prestige of having a football franchise?

Is having a football franchise enough of a palladium to justify sinking millions of tax dollars into a project like this? The city and the state it is in are going bankrupt, yet the city fathers of Los Angeles are pursing this football team with stars in their eyes. Is this the sort of hard-nosed, grown-ups we want leading our government?

Even more ridiculous is the plan to tear down a portion of the convention center to build the stadium. In a city starving for revenue does it make any sense to tear down a facility that brings in money and to leave that space fallow until the new stadium is finally finished years later?
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Stadium Deal in LA a Moneypit”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Quincy, Illinois Takes $6 Million for Train Station While Schools are $6 Million Unfunded

August 31, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If the situation in Quincy, Illinois doesn’t scream “government stupidity,” nothing does. The city of Quincy is being offered $6 million in state funds to build a new train station that it doesn’t really need while at the same time the city’s school system is owed the exact same amount in unpaid state education funds.

This is government at work, folks. Starving the necessary expenditures while chasing pointless programs and waste.

Steve McQueen has all the sordid details in his post at BigGovernment.com, but the upshot is that this is waste and corruption plain and simple.
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Quincy, Illinois Takes $6 Million for Train Station While Schools are $6 Million Unfunded”

Budget - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Liberals - Lobbyists - Taxes - Virginia - Warner Todd Huston

$400 K For State Employee That Never Showed for Work For 12 Years

August 29, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

CNN reports that an employee contracted with the state of Virginia for 12 years seems to have never actually done any work for the agency she was attached to, Norfolk officials say.

This employee was discovered by the new director of the Norfolk Community Services Board who was looking through the office’s records finding the no-show job. Once the new director found this freeloader she was terminated and charges may be filed over the more than $400,000 she was paid for her “work” these last 12 years.

Apparently this woman “worked” for some sort of community program that isn’t run directly by the city that supplies some of its funding. These politically created “jobs” are mandated by law and seem to have little or no oversight.
Continue reading “

$400 K For State Employee That Never Showed for Work For 12 Years”