Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News: Illinois Medicaid recipients have been limited to four prescription drugs as the state becomes the latest to cap how many medicines it will cover in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor.
Doctors fear the state's cost-cutting move could backfire on patients, who have to get state permission to go beyond the limit.
"We understand the state is trying to get its Medicaid budget under control," says Dr. William Werner, president of the Illinois State Medical Society. "But our concern is it not be a hardship for patients and a hassle for doctors in the execution."
Sixteen states impose a monthly limit on the number of drugs Medicaid recipients can receive and seven states have either enacted such caps or tightened them in the past two years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KHN is a program of the foundation). The limits vary across the country. Mississippi has a limit of two brand-name drugs. In Arkansas adults are limited to up six drugs a month.
Since June, Alabama has had the nation’s stingiest Medicaid drug benefit after limiting adults to one brand-name drug. HIV and psychiatric drugs were excluded. On Aug. 1 the state will relax the limit to its previous level — four brand-name drugs — after the restriction saved more money than expected and the state received money as part of a settlement with a pharmaceutical company.
Jarod Speer, a family doctor in Childersburg, Ala., welcomed the state’s decision. He said the one brand-name drug limit put his patients at risk. "This is going to remove a lot of the obstacles we were facing," he says. "Most patients can be managed with generics and three or four brand-name drugs."
While most drugs have a generic equivalent, his patients with asthma and other lung diseases faced limited options without access to brands, says Speer, who practices about 30 miles east of Birmingham.
Alabama Medicaid officials were happy to rescind the one drug limit, which affected 14,000 people, but defended its need.
"At the end of the day, we have to provide care, but we have to have a balanced budget," says Alabama State Health Officer Donald Williamson, who acknowledged reports that some patients with chronic diseases were having trouble finding generic replacements.
Other states with Medicaid drug limits are Arkansas, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. ---------------- Kaiser Health News authorized the free use of the articles content. The title of this posting is not their title.; If you share the content of the article, link back to the original article. Tags:healthcare, rationing, states cutting medicate, drug benefits, Kaiser Health News To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
UNIVERSITY STUDY: Over 1 Million Jobs ‘Would Be Lost Due To DOD Budget Cuts’
University Study:‘[T]otal of 1,090,359 jobs … would be lost due to DOD budget cuts’ “The estimated decrease in federal spending with the implementation of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (spending for FY 2012 and FY 2013) will reduce DOD spending by a total of $56.7 billion… A total of 1,090,359 jobs with a total labor income of $46.5 billion would be lost due to DOD budget cuts in FY 2012-FY 2013.” (“Sequestration Puts 2.14 Million Total Jobs At Risk,” George Mason University, P.1, 7/17/12)
‘Lockheed Could Have To Lay Off As Many As 10,000 Workers Next Year,’ will ‘send pink slips to each of its 120,000 employees nationwide in early November.’ “CEO Robert Stevens told the House Armed Services Committee that Lockheed could have to lay off as many as 10,000 workers next year. … Lockheed Martin, the state's largest federal contractor, has said it would send pink slips to each of its 120,000 employees nationwide in early November to comply with federal and state layoff notification laws.” (“Md. Defense Contractors Press Congress For Details Of Cuts,” The Baltimore Sun, 7/29/12)
SEC. PANETTA: “I think you all recognize that sequester would be entirely unacceptable, and I really urge both sides to work together to try to find the kind of comprehensive solution that would de-trigger sequester and try to do this way ahead of this potential disaster that we confront.” (U.S. Senate, Appropriations Committee, Hearing, 6/13/12)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI): ‘[I]t would be severely damaging if sequestration occurs.’ “The specter of sequestration is such that businesses, local governments who have to plan are going to assume that the current law, which requires sequestration, is going to kick in. And unless there's some clear indicator in time -- and that means, to me, in the fall -- that there will be some way to avoid sequestration, I think you're going to see some decisions made in businesses and in local governments which will weaken the economy. … it would be severely damaging if sequestration occurs.” (Sen. Levin, Bloomberg Government Defense Conference, 6/22/12) Tags:Obama Administration, DOD, DOD Budget Cuts, DOD Contractors, DOD employees, USAF, Army, Navy, Marine, lost jobs, government employees, Sequestration, sequestering, hiding, layoff notices, Leon PenettaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - August 31, 2012 Today the House will convene at 2PM for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 PM. Bill to be considered under suspension of the rules: HR 828— Federal Employee Tax Accountability S 679 — Removing Senate confirmation process for certain federal appointments HR 4365 — Amending the Thrift Savings Fund S 300 — Government Charge card Abuse Prevention Act HR 1627 — Honoring American veterans HR 4073 — Railroad right-of-way in Colorado HR 4606 — Right-of-way permits for natural gas pipeline in Alaska HR 3641 — Pinnacles National Park Act HR 3706 — Creation of the office of Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Islands S 270, S 271 — Land conveyance in Oregon HR 3803 — DC Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act HR 1950 — National Park System HR 3120 — Student Visa Reform Act HR 6029 — Penalties for foreign and economic espionage HR 6063 — Child Protection Act HR 4362 — STOP Identity Theft Act HR 3796 — Authorizing appropriations for child protection programs through 2017 HR 6062 — Grant program reauthorization HR 1550 — Law enforcement recruitment and retention
During the remainder of the week, the House will convene at noon Wednesday and Thursday and at 9 AM on Friday for legislative business. Last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m. Other Bills pending in the House: Under suspension of the rules: H Con Res 127 — Sense of Congress to preserve Internet governance HR 4273 — Resolving grid reliability and environmental conflicts HR 897 — Commuter and residential toll fairness HR 5797 — Freedom to fish in Mille Lacs Lake, Minn. HR 3158 — Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act HR 1171 — Debris in marine areas HR 2446 — Home warranty clarification HR 2139 — Lions Clubs commemorative coin HR 3187 — March of Dimes commemorative coin HR 4104 — Pro Football Hall of Fame commemorative coin S 3363 — Commemorative coin surcharges for the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Subject to a rule: Draft — Farm bill extension HR 8 — Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act HR 6169 — creating jobs through a simpler tax code
The extension of the Farm Bill has become a "Sacred cow" for many representatives and senators. The pressure on them is great when they have large agriculture regions in their districts or large populations centers dependent on food stamps. Farming in America is more than very important and the government rightly in the past has assisted with crop insurance assistance because of the varying aspects of natural calamities and the weather which are beyond the control of the farmers.
However, the Farm Bill has become the sacred cow of politicians because the Farm Bill in the past has become the burden bearer for numerous other programs which would rightly suffer major reductions if these programs had to stand on their own and the Farm bill was a true "farms only" bill. One example is the corrupted and wasteful "food stamps" program. Another has been the government telling private farmers what and when they could grow crops. Then there is the massive farm subsidies which has become a method for government regulators to control farmers. The Farm Bill has become a double edged sword, a system of of both control and assist certain farmers and a system to protect elected politicians with votes in districts where they can rally constituents dependent on the food stamp programs or garner support by farmers or investors in corporate farms who relying on subsidy checks to turn a profit in their farming operations.
Public Notice, an independent non-profit dedicated to providing facts and insight on the economy and how government policy, summarized the situation as follows: "An economic recovery will only come when our leaders in Washington start to budget and spend responsibly. This goes for all areas of the federal government, no matter how large or small. The farm bill is no exception."
The farm bill has outgrown its original purpose, becoming a vehicle to subsidize large corporations at taxpayers’ expense.
For example, last year, one large corporation received a subsidy of $2.2 million thanks to the farm bill.
While our debt burden has increased 48 percent since 2009, farm incomes are surging.
In fact, compared to others, farmers have done well in recent years. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reports that “farm household incomes have surged ahead of average U.S. household incomes” in the last decade, and that “rising commodity prices and land values have pushed farm incomes to record levels.” In 2012, it’s not exactly hard times down on the farm.
It all comes down to priorities. As Americans all over the country struggle to make ends meet, can we afford to continue spending billions subsidizing large companies?
This is a classic example of how a program intended to protect and sustain the nation’s food supply has been distorted by Washington into a political game.
The farm bill has become a vehicle to allow those with access to Washington’s power structure to get ahead and now encourages many in agribusiness to play a game, instead of focusing on creating value.
Huge spending in the bill allows large and small businesses, farmers and ranchers, and others to game the system for financial gain at the expense of taxpayers.
This system encourages greed and deceit by the players — and we, the taxpayers, are the losers.
The Senate reconvened resumed consideration of S. 3414, the cybersecurity bill. Votes on amendments to the cybersecurity bill are possible today. Also possible is a vote on the nomination of Carol Galante to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Yesterday, as Senate Democrats tried to break precedent by advancing an appeals court nominee late in an election year, Republicans blocked the move by denying cloture on the nominee, making sure the Senate continued the precedents used by Democrats in 2004 and 2008.
Politicowrites this morning, “Democrats are trying to talk up the benefits of ‘Obamacare’ for women’s health Tuesday — but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is still trying to force a vote to repeal it. On the Senate floor Tuesday morning, McConnell asked [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid if the Republicans would have a chance to offer a repeal amendment to the cybersecurity bill — just as Reid was finishing a passionate floor speech about how the law would be a big step forward for women and recalling his wife’s own battle with breast cancer. Reid called the request ‘ridiculous,’ and asked the Senate floor reporter to ‘note the smile on my face.’ ‘I guess the answer is no,’ McConnell said — but insisted he’ll keep trying.” Video of exchange:
So Senate Democrats are spending the day talking about Obamacare and how it affects women, trying to promote the unpopular legislation, but they won’t take a vote on it. If Reid doesn’t want to mix health care with the cybersecurity bill, he has an odd way of showing it, since Democrat senators spoke on the floor for over an hour outing new Obamacare regulations that begin tomorrow.
The Senate Democrat majority has repeatedly blocked amendments that would repeal their unpopular health care law.
Meanwhile, the news about how bad this law is keeps coming. Just yesterday The New York Times headlined a story, “Doctor Shortage Likely to Worsen With Health Law.”The Times reported, “The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed. And that number will more than double by 2025, as the expansion of insurance coverage and the aging of baby boomers drive up demand for care. . . . Health experts, including many who support the law, say there is little that the government or the medical profession will be able to do to close the gap by 2014, when the law begins extending coverage to about 30 million Americans. It typically takes a decade to train a doctor. . . . Moreover, across the country, fewer than half of primary care clinicians were accepting new Medicaid patients as of 2008, making it hard for the poor to find care even when they are eligible for Medicaid. The expansion of Medicaid accounts for more than one-third of the overall growth in coverage in President Obama’s health care law. Providers say they are bracing for the surge of the newly insured into an already strained system.”
As Sen. McConnell explained this morning, Democrats “are going to spend the week lauding the advantages as they see it of an immensely unpopular bill that was passed a couple years ago on a straight party-line vote: Obamacare. Yet in a week in which apparently they are going to laud the various provision of it, they're not willing to have a vote in support of it. So I gather that's a vote we will not have. I will request the opportunity to do that again . . . .” Tags:Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, farm bill, cybersecurity bill, politics, news, debt, government spending, repeal of Obamacare, voteTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Don Seymore: Side-by-Side: POTUS’ Plan to Destroy 710,000 Jobs v. GOP Plan to #StoptheTaxHike
A new Gallup survey asked Americans to rank their top priorities for the next president – number one was “creating good jobs” (a reflection of President Obama’s failed policies). Raising taxes, the number one priority of Democrats in Washington, ranked dead last. The House is listening, and will vote this week to stop the largest tax hike in history – which threatens more than 700,000 jobs – and to lay the groundwork for a simpler, pro-growth tax code that helps bring home some of the jobs that have gone overseas. Click here for a look at each of the bills.
Above is a graphic showing the House plan side-by-side with President Obama’s and Senate Democrats’ plans to raise taxes and tank the economy. The chart shows where each plan stands when it comes to:
PROTECTING 710,000 JOBS: Nonpartisan analysis by Ernst and Young found the Democrats’ small business tax hike will destroy more than 700,000 American jobs and lead to lower wages (for those lucky enough to have a job in the Obama economy). The House plan stops this tax hike.
EMPOWERING SMALL BUSINESSES: The Democrats’ tax hikes hit more than half of all small business income, according to the president’s own jobs council. By removing this threat, the House plan will help small businesses grow, invest, and create new private-sector jobs.
BIPARTISAN SUPPORT: President Obama may think his economic plan “worked,” but after 41 months of unemployment above 8 percent, leading Democrats – including former President Clinton – agree with Republicans on stopping the president’s tax hikes. One top Democrat told The Hill today, “We shouldn’t be raising taxes right now, with the economy where it is.”
HELPING KEEP JOBS IN AMERICA: The House plan stops the tax hikes and gives Congress time to craft a fairer, simpler tax code that will help keep jobs in America and bring home some of the jobs that have gone overseas.
By the end of the week, Speaker John Boehner says “the House – and only the House – will have acted to address the tax hikes that threaten our economy, and the defense cuts that threaten our security.” These are in addition to the more than 30 House-passed jobs bills awaiting a vote by Senate Democrats.
Learn more about how Republicans are working to remove government barriers to private-sector job growth at jobs.GOP.gov. Tags:#StopTheTaxHike, stop, tax hikes, jobs, economy, US HouseTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
"Life is not a spectator game but must be played out to the best of one’s abilities and circumstances. Many complain when evil wins though evil is the minority. But remember Burke’s truism, the next time a horrific law passes or we blow another $1 trillion this year in new debt that evil thrives when good people do nothing." ~ Albert Maslar
By Albert Maslar, NetRight Daily: A famous Japanese proverbial picture depicts three monkeys, in turn, covering the eyes, ears, and mouth. In 2010, former House Speaker Democrat Nancy Pelosi handed over control of the House to Republican John Boehner by symbolically handing him a much-oversized gavel, a gesture that proves to be cynically accurate as the tear-prone Boehner meekly carries the proverbial “big stick” made famous by President Theodore Roosevelt.
A fourth monkey with crossed arms has since been added, as the “Do No Evil” monkey, a dubious honor. It might have been the hallmark of Speaker Boehner, except instead of doing nothing wrong, he is simply doing nothing — as he has stifled every legitimate attempt to control spending and Obama. Boehner stays true to form by not aggressively calling for the ouster of Attorney General Eric Holder for lying to Congress about the infamous “Fast and Furious” Mexico gun-running escapade.
Now Boehner does nothing as regards the flagrant disregard for the Constitution by President Obama who arbitrarily made immigration law, the sole constitutional right of the legislature, by implementing the DREAM Act without any congressional authorization.
Self-appointed constitutional scholars and the mainstream media are indifferent and uncaring about Obama’s flagrant violations of the Constitution and the gravity of a potential constitutional crisis; instead emulating behavior typical of ostriches with their heads buried in the sand. After all, like the king, their anointed one can do no wrong.
If Obama’s overreach stands unchallenged, the expanding precedents of the presidency could reach critical levels with no constitutional restraints or separation of powers, resulting in a de facto dictatorship.
Instead of fighting, Speaker Boehner has used his big stick gavel but only to commandeer and stifle the voters’ mandate for the principles and ideals of the incoming Tea Party freshmen.
Speaker Boehner, second in line for the presidency after the vice president, cowardly ignored what he saw, heard, and said, and now ignores the fourth monkey principle to “do no evil.” Edmund Burke opined that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Especially in government, false bravado prevails amongst the “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” mentality that is nowhere to be found when push comes to shove.
And so it is with House Speaker Boehner with the over-sized gavel, who constantly caves to fight “yet another day” — a day when the deck will be stacked with a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and laws are rubber-stamped by an anybody Republican President.
Anybody can win then, but it takes a giant to win now, while holding just one and yet perhaps the most powerful branch of government. But it turns out Boehner’s big stick is made of flimsy paper mache and he proves time and again that after 21 years in the House, he has become the poster boy for the incumbent motto: “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours,” just like the Pennsylvania scratch-card lottery motto, “Just keep scratching” — and losing.
The Bible recounts that three servants received talents, the first two increasing what was given while the third returned the talents, saying he buried them so as not to lose them but in the process he lost himself as Jesus judged him as a “wicked slothful servant.”
The servant did nothing intrinsically evil but Jesus condemned him for not doing something with his given talents. Jesus even cursed the unproductive fig tree and it withered away.
Life is not a spectator game but must be played out to the best of one’s abilities and circumstances. Many complain when evil wins though evil is the minority. But remember Burke’s truism, the next time a horrific law passes or we blow another $1 trillion this year in new debt that evil thrives when good people do nothing. Boehner should remember it as well. Tags:John Boehner, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil do no evil, do nothing, President Obama, disregard of the constitution, Albert Maslar, NetRight DailyTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
By Ken Blackwell, Contributing Author: I have written recently of President Obama's "covert zeal" for the spread of abortion. I took that phrase from Abraham Lincoln's description of how President Franklin Pierce and Sen. Stephen A. Douglas sought--covertly--to spread slavery in the 1850s. In that column, I noted specific actions of this president to advance abortion-on-demand and to force us all to pay for it.
Now, I want to focus on something Mr. Obama is not doing. He is not charging Nidal Hasan, the accused Fort Hood killer, with violation of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA). This law was passed and signed in 2004. After the highly publicized conviction of Scott Peterson in California for the murder of his wife and her unborn child, the law was named the Laci and Conner Peterson Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
There would seem to be no possibility of controversy in charging Hasan with violating UVVA. After all, it is indisputable that one of those killed was pregnant at the time of her death. Nor did the mother, Army Private Francheska Velez, contemplate an abortion. There would be no question of her exercising "choice" in this matter. In fact, her last words, most poignantly reported, were: "My baby! my baby!"
It was for just such heinous crimes that the UVVA was passed. It covers only those instances where a crime of violence is committed on federal property, or where other crimes covered by the federal code are being committed. This is how Wikipedia describes UVVA.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-212) is a United States law which recognizes a "child in utero" as a legal victim, if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence. The law defines "child in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb".
So, it is a law incorporated into the U.S. Code and most significantly in this case, it is applied to the military by including it in the UCMJ. Hasan was assigned to Fort Hood. So were all those who died. There could be no question of UVVA not applying in this case.
Apart from his "covert zeal" for abortion, what could explain President Obama's failure to apply this law in this case? He obviously has a problem with the law "recogniz[ing] the child in utero." But the law can in no way conflict with the Supreme Court's abortion rulings. This young mother chose life--for herself and her unborn child. The law does no more than recognize what we all know to be true. Even Joe Klein, that veritable liberal, acknowledges in his TIME Magazine column that "that thing in the womb is a human being." But President Obama does not want to recognize that simple truth.
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 30, 2012 Both the House and the Senate will reconvene at 2 PM today. The House is not expected to remain in session and will reconvene tomorrow. However, the Senate will resume post-cloture consideration of S. 3414, the cybersecurity bill. At 4:30 PM, the Senate will take up the nomination of Robert Bacharach to be United States Circuit Judge for the 10th Circuit. After an hour of debate, the Senate will vote on cloture on the nomination. If cloture is invoked, the Senate will consider the nomination and then return to the cyber security bill. If cloture is not invoked, the motion to proceed to the cybersecurity bill will be agreed to and the Senate will begin considering the bill.
A new Gallup poll today shows that despite President Obama’s push to raise taxes, it’s not a high priority for Americans. In fact, Gallup writes, “Americans assign much less importance to increasing taxes on wealthyAmericans and dealing with environmental concerns. . . . Although there is a large difference in the relative importance of dealing with environmental concerns and increasing taxes on wealthy Americans, these issues are the lowest priorities for both Romney and Obama supporters.”
Byron York points out, “The top priority for the largest number of Americans was creating good jobs, which was named extremely important or very important by 92 percent of respondents. . . . The third most important issue was reducing the federal budget deficit, at 86 percent. What issues fell farther down on the scale of importance? President Obama’s top domestic agenda item, increasing taxes on wealthy Americans, came in at the bottom of the list, called extremely or very important by just 49 percent of those polled by Gallup.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in the Weekly Republican Address, “Raising taxes as our economy continues to struggle is not a solution, and the majority of Americans and businesses understand that. The President once understood that as well. In 2010, he said that allowing these same tax increases ‘would have been a blow to our economy, just as we're climbing out of a devastating recession.’ Forty Democrats in the Senate agreed—joining Republicans to stop these potentially devastating tax hikes. That was the right position then, and, with grim news this week that economic growth is weaker than it was two years ago, it’s the right position today.” Tags:Washington, D.C., Gallup Poll, tax hikes, not a prioriryTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
By Phil Kerpen, Contributing Author: Can a piece of legislation be a “farm bill” if nearly 80 percent of its spending goes to food stamps? According the United States Congress – yes.
The Senate passed its so-called farm bill — whose $970 billion price tag is 78 percent food stamps — on a 65-34 vote. There were 16 Republican “yes” votes. The House agriculture committee passed its so-called farm bill — whose $957 billion price tag is 79 percent food stamps — on a 35-11 vote. There were only four Republican “no” votes. Now Speaker John Boehner, who so far is holding firm, is coming under intense pressure to bring it to the floor. Let’s be honest: it’s not a farm bill. And Boehner should scuttle it permanently.
We now have one in every seven Americans on food stamps and the program is rife with waste, fraud, and abuse. The United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, has been running an aggressive marketing campaign to sign up as many people as possible. They are using Spanish-language ads in a soap opera style to sign up more people — and partnering with the Mexican government to reach Mexican nationals in the U.S. They are actively marketing to college students. There are reports of “food stamp parties” with gourmet meals paid for with food stamps. There are also the usual tales of corruption — merchants regularly accepting food stamps for booze and cigarettes and food stamps being directly laundered for cash.
Total food stamp spending doubled from less than $38 billion in 2008 to more than $80 billion this year. In 2008, President George W. Bush — not generally noted for spending restraint — vetoed a 2008 farm bill that he said cost too much but Congress overrode his veto. The bills currently under consideration spend a lot more than the amount Bush thought was too high.
Compare total food stamp spending over the past five years (2008-2012), which was $320 billion, with anticipated spending under the House “farm bill” over the next five years (2013-2017), which is $392 billion. That’s $72 billion more than the level Bush vetoed – a 22 percent increase. The House bill does reduce spending versus the so-called baseline — the amount the government expects to spend — but by just 1.8 percent. This the Republicans count as an accomplishment and the Democrats denounce as if it were a major cut. It’s tinkering around the edges. Overall, over the next ten years, the House bill would spend $756 billion on food stamps.
Quite simply, we cannot afford such a massive spending bill. We’re already trillions in debt. All of this money is borrowed.
Supporters of the bill are now touting drought relief as a reason to bring the bill to the House floor. But an analysis by the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense found that just 0.2 percent of projected “farm bill” spending goes to disaster programs. They also point out that taxpayers already pick up about 60 percent of the cost for crop insurance, which covers losses during droughts.
The drought is a natural disaster. Tragic, but unavoidable – a feature of human experience since the dawn of time. The massive explosion in federal spending and debt, by contrast, is an entirely man-made disaster of new and unique dimensions. It is a disaster to burden our children and grandchildren with staggering debts before they are even born. And it is a disaster to have one in seven Americans on food stamps, dependent on someone else to feed them. Congress needs to fix the economy so people have jobs, not lock this in for another five years.
OBAMA: “…tax rates for every American were poised to automatically increase on January 1st… would have been a blow to our economyjust as we’re climbing out of a devastating recession.”(President Obama, Remarks At Bill Signing, 12/17/10)
The Bottom Line Guy: My bet is that Dan Kathy is not only my kind of guy, he's most of America's kind of guy. And the reality is that he is not very special! In the real America, the one void of a disgraceful media, he is just another true American. One that believes in a God. One that believes in freedom of religion, which of course includes Christianity. One that believes in freedom of speech. One that believes that God created earth and on the 7th day He rested. One that believes that the family is the cornerstone of civilized society. One that does not believe that others agendas, especially unnatural and destructive ones, should be force fed to all Americans…
I don’t have to convince you of what a sorry job the federal government typically does of “controlling costs.” Then, has it ever done that? And you already know the federal government is going to completely control everything it even partially pays for (with your money of course). So, it should be no surprise that the City of New York is giving us a prophetic glimpse of where Obamacare will take us.
by Curtis Coleman, Contributing Author: You are most likely familiar with New York City’s mayor’s campaign to ban bottles of Coke and Pepsi over 16 ounces in size. Never mind for a moment that it’s a ridiculous over-reach of government, but take a quick glimpse into the future with me.
If Obamacare is implemented as the President and his progressive minions intend, the ultimate result will be a single-payer health care system in America. In other words, all of your health care will be paid for by the federal government (using your tax dollars, of course, to pay for your health care and everybody else’s health care who doesn’t pay income taxes).
But I digress. You know that the federal government is going to control everything it ostensibly pays for. So to control its costs, the federal government is going to have to control the foods it thinks will adversely affect your health and health care costs. New York City’s ban on soda is just a preview.
So you should not be surprised if the federal government decides it should outlaw
Ice cream
Chocolate cake – especially Coca Cola chocolate cake
Southern fried cookin’
Butter, and therefore
Paula Dean and her fabulous food!
Make no mistake, my friends. Obamacare and the world of tofu and veggie burgers is on its way to your house. Your federal government will make certain of that. -------------- Curtis Coleman is the President, Curtis Coleman's Institute for Constitutional Policy and contributing author to the ARRA News Service. Tags:Curtis Coleman, podcast, ban on soda, Coca-Cola, Coke, health care, New York City, Pepsi, single payer, soda, Paula DeanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Friday, Deneen Borelli spoke at FreedomWorks for America's - FreePac rally held before the Glenn Beck Restoring Love rally.
Selected Quotes from Deneen Borelli's Speech: ~ My friends, we are here to restore liberty. I didn't say we are her to "fundamentally transform Amrica." We are here to restore liberty and to save our country.
~ To save our country from President Obama and his failed policies.
~ The crushing debt, the spending , the regulations, unemployment - 8.2%; 14.4% in the black community; over 39% among black youth. He is failing our country.
~ Americans, my patriots, America is an exceptional country. Where any one can succeed ... by hardwork and perserverance.
~ In case you were wondering, unlike Michelle Obama, I have always been proud of my country!
~ And, that is why I wrote BlackLash: How Obama and the left are driving Americans to the Government plantation.
~ It is up to We The People to hold the line for liberty; stand the line for liberty; play your role and hold the line for liberty.
~ President Obama is desperate now; he is desperate playing class warfare.
~ And No! No the government is not responsible for my success.
~I am challenging the liberal establishment. You know who they are: President Obama, Eric Holder, Maxine Walters, Charlie Rangel. Look at what they have done to the black community: - deplorable public schools - black on black crimes - where were their voices when the New Black Panther Party members were screaming blood shed and revolution in the streets, Where were their voices.
~ And speaking of Eric Holder playing the race card with Voter ID laws, a disgrace, he is a disgrace. Remember when he called Americans cowards. Well where are the documents for "Fast and Furious/" Who is the coward?
~ Our country does not guarantee your success, but Liberty guarantees you the opportunity to succeed.
~If you are citizen spectator, you need to step up your game. --------------- Deneen Borelli is a member of Project 21, a network of black conservatives which is an initiative of The National Center for Public Policy Research, a national public policy group based in Washington, D.C. In addition, Deneen is a contributor on the Fox News Channel programs and has appeared on FNC programs such as "Glenn Beck," "The O'Reilly Factor," "Your World with Neil Cavuto," "Hannity" and "Fox and Friends." Deneen has also appeared on MSNBC, CNN, the BBC and C-SPAN. Deneen is also a columnist with The Daily Caller, and her commentaries on the importance of freedom and limited government have been published by numerous newspapers and blogs. She is also the author of BlackLash Tags:Deneen Brelli, speech, freedom, liberty, Americans, FreePAC, Tea Party, 2012 ElectionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Friday, Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, spoke at FreedomWorks for America's - FreePac rally held before the Glenn Beck Restoring Love rally.
Sen. Mike Lee
Selected Quotes from Sen. Mike Lee's Speech: ~ I love people who love freedom.
~ He [President Obama] puts words that don't make much senseto a catchy tune and he expects us not to think about it.
~ $16 Trillion debt isn't that bad, if you don't think about it.
~ Unemployment that has been above 8 percent for years is oaky, if you don't think about it.
~ Adding to the National debt at an aoutstanding rate at over 1 Trillion dollars a year is just fine, if you don't think about it.
~ But you know Mr. President, some of us are thinking about it!
~ We need a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
~ Congress has stopped asking: What is the Proper Roll of Government.
~We [Conservative congress members] are going to resist every attempt to raise the national debt limit until we put in place the principles of cut, cap and balance -- and first, put in place a Balance Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
~We as American citizens were born to be free. We as American citizens are blessed by Almighty God with a land where men and women would be free as long as they continued to honor Him and as long as they continued to strive for liberty. ------------------ Michael Shumway "Mike" Lee is the junior U.S. from Utah (R). He has been a constitutional lawyer in Utah and Washington, D.C, in addition to serving as a clerk for then-Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr.. At the age of 41, Lee is the youngest current U.S. senator. He is also the author of the book, The Freedom Agenda. Tags:U.S. Senator, Mike Lee, Utah, speech, freedom, liberty, Americans, FreePAC, Tea Party, 2012 Election, If You Don't Think About It, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Selected Quotes from John Fund's Speech: ~ Politics is too important to be left to the politicians. Ir requires citizen activism and citizen engagement.
~ I don't believe in representation without respiration. {The voting Dead.]
~ We have two problems this November: 1) We have the sloppiest election systems of any industrialized democracy; 2) We have voter fraud.
~ If we don't clean up our election system ... we could see another Florida style melt down like the year 2000.
~ Let me ward you there are 10,000 lawyers on eithr side waiting to monitor this election . . . if they see any problems . . . lawsuits!
~ In Minnesotan last Senatorial election . . . 12,000 felons voted illegally.
~ Voter fraud is a lot like shoplifting, if you ignore it, if you sweep it under the rung, if you don't prosecute it -- it will happen. people think there is no risk, they will be prey to human nature. [They will steal!]
~ Just like shoplifting, you let people know you are watching, let people know you care; you let people know thy will be prosecuted; you can cut down voter fraud dramatically.
~ We are told constantly that voter fraud is racist, ... we have two two civil rights {in regard to voting] in this country, 1) the right to not be prosecuted from voting and 2) right to NOT have your vote cancelled out by someone who shouldn't be voting because they're dead, because they're an illegal alien, because they're a felon who shouldn't be voting, because they moved to another state , because they don't even exist! -------------- John H. Fund is an American political journalist and conservative columnist. He is the senior editor of The American Spectator and was previously a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Tags:John Fund, Barack Obama, FreePAC, POTUS 2012, Restoring Love, Tea Party, 2012 Election, Voter FraudTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
By Ken Blackwell, Contributing Author: Every fall, it seems, Americans are subjected to the ugly spectacle of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad coming to New York to address the UN General Assembly. There, at the podium, he is placed on a par with President Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron, France's Francois Hollande, and other leaders of civilized states. Ahmadinejad has used this podium to spew his anti-American, anti-Israel hatred. And yet he receives hearty applause from the Islamist delegates seated before him.
Iran signed the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights as long ago as 1948. That's when Iran was ruled by the Shah. That UNDHR contains this provision, Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Even though Iran is a signatory to this UN document, the mullahs' theocracy that rules in Tehran today flagrantly violates this article. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is in prison under sentence of death unless he recants his conversion to Christianity. A worldwide appeal has been made for Pastor Nadarkhani. Even the U.S. State Department--which under this administration has been extraordinarily lax in calling for the rights of Christians to be respected--has called for his release.
Rev. Behnam Irani, a 41-year old Evangelical Christian, is also in prison. He's accused of endangering national security for holding Bible studies in his home. Pastor Irani has been beaten and tortured for his faith. There are reportedly many other Christians in Iranian prisons, threatened with death for no other reason than professing Christ.
We are living in a time of Christian persecution unparalleled since the days of Hitler and the Soviet Gulag. And yet the UN remains in thrall to its Islamist bloc. To them, apparently, threatening their own people with death for conversion is perfectly normal, wholly acceptable.
It's time to give teeth to the State Department warnings. The U.S. should demand the ouster of Iran from the UN.
Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. Iran is defying the world body on the question of nuclear proliferation. It should not do this with impunity.
Even if the U.S. cannot bring the UN General Assembly expel Iran's dictatorship by a majority vote, it would nonetheless put that majority on notice that our patience with murder cloaked in religious zeal is at an end. We should inform the UN that America's contribution to the world body's budget will be reduced so long as it harbors terrorists.
Tough words are empty unless backed by strong actions. President Theodore Roosevelt did not have to cater to a world assembly filled with bloody despots. He quoted the African proverb: Speak softly, but carry a big stick. It's time for the big stick. And let's remember: T.R. won the Nobel Peace Prize for his strong and effective diplomacy. ---------------- Ken Blackwell, former U.S. ambassador is to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council. He is a contributing author to the ARRA News Service. Tags:Ken Blackwell, ambassador, UN, United Nations, Iran, sponsor of terror, persecuting Christian, dictatorship, human rights violations, nuclear proliferation, Boot Iran from UN, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
And the conservative new media, e.g., ARRA News Services, causes liberal politicians to prevaricate, to spend more money, to kill jobs, to establish Obamacare, to trample on people's rights . . . Tags:blame game, William Warren, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Chick-Fil-A Publicly Acknowledges It’s Conservative, Media Upset Media angry company president says ‘we are very much supportive of the family.’ Ryan Robertson [ Full Story ] Tags:Business, Faith, Family, Politics, Chick-fil-A, Same-Sex Marriage, Glenn Foden, political cartoon, MRCTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
President Obama Attacks Business While Promoting Big Government
“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” — Barack Obama, Roanoke, Va., July 13
And who might that somebody else be? Government, says Obama. It built the roads you drive on. It provided the teacher who inspired you. It “created the Internet.” It represents the embodiment of “we’re in this together” social solidarity that, in Obama’s view, is the essential origin of individual and national achievement. Charles Krauthammer explains at NRO.
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 27, 2012: Both The Senate or the House are in recess today and will reconvene on Monday.
When the Senate returns it will resume post cloture consideration of S. 3414, the cybersecurity bill and will take up the nomination of Robert Bacharach to be United States Circuit Judge for the 10th Circuit. After an hour of debate, the Senate will vote on cloture on the nomination. Following the vote, the Senate will return to the cybersecurity bill. Yesterday, the Senate voted 84-11 to invoke cloture (cut off debate) on the motion to proceed to S. 3414, the cybersecurity bill.
Yesterday the House passed (245-172 ) H.R. 4078 — "To provide that no agency may take any significant regulatory action until the unemployment rate is equal to or less than 6.0 percent." The House also passed by voice vote, H. Con. Res. 134 — "Condemning, in the strongest possible terms, the heinous atrocities that occurred in Aurora, Colorado."
The New York Times reports today, “The United States economy grew by a tepid 1.5 percent annual rate in the second quarter, losing the momentum it had appeared to be gaining earlier this year, the government reported Friday. Growth was curbed as consumers limited new spending and as business investment slowed in the face of a global slowdown and a stronger dollar. . . . A slowdown in household spending was the primary damper on growth, as consumers increased their savings rate, a sign of increased uncertainty about the future.”
And the AP writes, “U.S. economic growth slowed to an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, as Americans cut back sharply on spending. The weaker growth adds to worries that the economy could be stalling three years after the recession ended. . . . Growth at or below 2 percent isn't enough to lower the unemployment rate, which was 8.2 percent last month. And most economists don't expect growth to pick up much in the second half of the year. Europe's financial crisis and a looming budget crisis in the U.S. are expected to slow business investment further. ‘The main take away from today's report, the specifics aside, is that the U.S. economy is barely growing,’ said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at BTIG LLC. ‘Along with a reduction in the actual amount of money companies were able to make, it's no wonder the unemployment rate cannot move lower.’”
Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson responded to today's report that the economy slowed in the second quarter to only 1.5 percent growth: "Gross Domestic Product numbers throughout 2008 failed to show that we were in a recession, when in reality the downturn had begun in the fourth quarter of 2007. And now, once again, the economy is visibly slowing down with only 1.5 percent growth, but are we already in another recession? At best, we're at stall speed, but we may already be contracting.
"Our early warning systems are broken, and economists are left only to extrapolate that we are in serious trouble. Meanwhile, Obama is doing nothing to get the economy back on its feet again. His only plan is to raise taxes on job creators, wage his war on business, and spend us into oblivion. The 'stimulus' has failed, and yet all the talk is the Fed will try to administer another dose of quantitative easing, or money printing, that will do nothing to get us out of this ditch. It is time for new leadership. We need a return to sound money, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, and a complete unraveling of the environmental, labor, and health regulations that are strangling growth."
The tepid GDP numbers today only serve to highlight how misguided Senate Democrats’ vote yesterday to raise taxes on nearly a million small businesses was. Fifty-one Democrats voted to raise taxes, despite President Obama’s warning when he signed a full extension of current tax rates two years ago that automatic tax increases on every American “would have been a blow to our economy just as we're climbing out of a devastating recession.”
As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this week, “[H]ere’s the Democrat plan for the economy: we’ll get this thing going again by raising taxes. Let’s take more money out of a small business and send it to Washington that’s how we’ll create jobs. . . . If you’re looking for the legislative equivalent of the President’s now famous view that ‘You didn’t build that’, this is it. They don’t think you deserve to keep what you’ve earned because you’re not responsible for earning it. They are. That’s the message Democrats are sending with today’s votes, that you’re not responsible for your success, Washington is. So give us your money, and we’ll handle it for you. That’s their tax plan. That’s their plan for the economy and jobs.”
Tags:Weaker GDP, GSP, failing economy, economy sucksTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Washington Could Learn A Lot: If you keep on digging, you'll put yourself deeper and deeper in the hole. The bureaucrats and politicians in Washington, D.C. have put this country in a $15,874,876,409,526.41 hole (U.S. national debt ending on July 20, 2012).
WashingtonCouldLearnALot.com is a project of Public Notice Research and Education Fund (PNREF). PNREF is an independent non-profit dedicated to educating the American people about economic policy and the principles of economic freedom. PNREF believes an empowered American public will cause lawmakers to be better stewards of the nation’s economy, and of Americans’ economic freedom. If you agree, watch, comment and share this video! Tags:Debt, economy, jobs, Washington, bureaucrats, politics, fiscal policy, out of control spending, spending, election, congress, small business, business, Government Agencies, regulations, White House, United States Congress, killing job creators, digging a hole, Time To Stop Digging, Washington Could Learn A LotTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Phyllis Schlafly and Dr. Bill Smith (ARRA News Service) Discussing Threats To America! Photo by Julie McKinney (NC)
by Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum: The United Nations in collusion with Obama’s globalists have cooked up another scheme to slice off a piece of U.S. sovereignty and put us under global government. The plan is to stampede the Senate into ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
This particular piece of globalist mischief had been unnoticed since President Obama ordered UN Ambassador Susan Rice to sign this treaty on July 30, 2009. Now he is trying to ram it through to ratification.
The notion that the UN can provide more benefits or protections for persons with disabilities than the U.S. is bizarre. The United States always treats individuals, able or disabled, rich or poor, innocent or guilty, better than any other nation.
We certainly don’t need a committee of foreigners who call themselves “experts” to dictate our laws or customs. But that’s what this treaty and most other UN treaties try to do.
We already have protections and benefits for persons with disabilities enshrined in U.S. laws, regulations, and enforcement mechanisms. Prominent among these laws are the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Other laws that benefit persons with disabilities are the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. These federal laws are enforced by numerous federal agencies, particularly the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
The UN General Assembly adopted the CRPD on December 13, 2006 and it became part of what globalists euphemistically call international law on May 3, 2008, after 20 nations ratified it. The treaty now has 117 nations that have ratified it.
Under the CRPD, we would be required to make regular reports to a “committee of experts” to prove we are obeying the treaty. The “experts” would have the authority to review our reports and make “such suggestions and general recommendations on the report as it may consider appropriate.”
These demands are often outside the treaty’s scope of subject matter. They override national sovereignty in pursuit of social engineering, feminist ideology, or merely busybody interference in a country’s internal affairs.
CRPD’s Article 7 gives the government the power to override every decision of the parent of a disabled child by using the caveat “the best interest of the child.” This phrase has already been abused by family courts to substitute judges’ decisions for parents’ decisions, and transferring the use of that phrase to the government or to a UN committee is the wrong way to go.
The feminists saw to it that this treaty on disabilities includes language in Article 25 that requires signatory states to “provide persons with disabilities … free or affordable health care … including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and population-based health programmes.” Wow!
When the UN approved the CRPD, the United States made a statement that the phrase “reproductive health” does not include abortion. But that’s just whistling in the wind because international law does not recognize the validity of one nation’s reservations to a treaty ratified by many other nations.
Furthermore, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on record as stating that the definition of “reproductive health” includes abortion. In testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 22, 2009, she said: “Family planning is an important part of women’s health, and reproductive health includes access to abortion.”
After ratification, treaties become part of the “supreme law” of the United States on a par with federal statutes. That gives supremacist judges the power to invent their own interpretations, which some are all too eager to do.
It’s easy to predict that some pro-abortion supremacist judges will rule that the CRPD, if part of the supreme law of our land, includes abortion. Several Supreme Court justices, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, have urged us to use foreign law in interpreting U.S. domestic law.
Americans may differ about the legality and the scope of abortion rights, but it’s unlikely that any of us want those decisions to be made by a UN “committee of experts.”
Another problem with this treaty on disabilities is its failure to give workable definitions. When the treaty states that “disability is an evolving concept,” that means open sesame for litigation against the U.S.
This treaty is a broadside attack on parents’ rights to raise their children, and it’s a particular threat to homeschooling families because of the known bureaucratic bias against homeschooling and against spanking. It is clear that both the United States and persons with disabilities are much better off relying on U.S. law than on any UN treaty. Tags:Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum, United Nations, UN, UN Treaty, Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, disabilities, parents' rightsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
