http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dying_and_ignored
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/27/debt-commission-gets-started-table/
President Obama said Tuesday that "everything has to be on the table" as his newly appointed debt commission goes to work, but he would not entertain questions about whether tax increases, included a value-added tax, or spending cuts will get serious consideration.
"We're not playing that game," the president said.
Among the proposals that have generated attention recently is the idea of a value-added tax, a form of a national sales tax. Though Obama has indicated an openness to considering the tax, he said Tuesday that he would not indulge in any speculation.
"We're not going to say what's in. I'm not going to say what's out. I want this commission to be free to do its work," he said, warning that the country would face a "day of reckoning" if the federal government cannot control its spending.
Former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson will join former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to lead the elite18-member debt commission convening Tuesday -- a panel appointed by Democrats and Republicans to come up with a plan to save America from its spendthrift ways.
The commission's charge is to produce a deficit no bigger than $550 billion by 2015, an amount equal to about 3 percent of the total U.S. economy. That would require deficit savings in the range of $250 billion or more.
The deficit for last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, was $1.4 trillion. Many projections show the yearly deficit not dipping below 4 percent of the economy over the next decade.
Peter Orszag, White House budget office director, said in prepared remarks to the commission that persistently high deficits could eventually stifle the economy.
"The options to further reduce the deficit may not be popular, but they are necessary," he said.
Simpson said he doesn't know what will make the final recommendations -- due Dec. 1 -- but he is not going to take anything for granted, including the VAT, which would add a charge on all stages of production of a good for sale in the United States.
But Simpson said the VAT should not be an additional tax on top of the income tax.
"To drag this specter of the value added tax like a dead rat through the room without doing
something with the income tax is a fakery," Simpson told Fox News on Monday. "What is this value added tax? I haven't the slightest idea but if you're going mess around in that area or flat tax, you're going to adjust the other tax in accordance."
The VAT is commonly used in Europe and adds about 17 percent to the price of a good sold in the United Kingdom.
Obama said last week that he was listening to arguments for a VAT, but those against it say that it reduces consumer purchasing power.
"It's like carbon monoxide, you can't see it you can't smell it, but it kills you just as effectively," said British author James Delingpole, who wrote, "Welcome to Obamaland."
But finding consensus among the panel -- composed of 10 Democratically appointed commissioners and eight Republican appointees -- will be an especially challenging task because it takes 14 votes out of the 18 members to approve a recommendation.
"This is a suicide mission," Simpson, R-Wyo., said on "Fox News Sunday."
The options for curbing the deficit -- cutting spending on popular entitlement programs and broad-based tax increases -- are politically toxic, part of the reason, Simpson said, the panel set its deadline after the November midterm election -- so the recommendations couldn't be used by politicians seeking a congressional seat.
The hope is that the commission can insulate itself from politics and that the requirement for bipartisanship would give both sides political cover. With few exceptions, most successful deficit reduction efforts have been bipartisan.
"Let's see if we can persuade people to trust each other, come together, and really take some of these tough stands to bring down spending," Bowles, said on "Fox News Sunday." "Everything has to be on the table, whether it's revenue or spending. I personally would like to go after spending first."
Simpson said there are no sacred cows when it comes to taxes or spending because the minor economic comeback so far this year can do nothing to sustain the rate of debt.
"If that's the wind, that's got to be a sparrow belch in a typhoon. We can't grow our way out of this. Double rates the growth in 30 years wouldn't grow out of this," he said, adding that the United States is going to borrow to pay for war, homeland security, education and veteran benefits not to mention the cost of obligations through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
But finding common ground will be the biggest challenge as 12 of the commission members -- six Democrats and six Republicans -- are currently members of Congress appointed by their party leaders. The other six -- Simpson, Bowles, former Young and Rubicam CEO Ann Fudge, former Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Alice Rivlin, Service Employees International Union chief Andy Stern and Honeywell Corp. Chief Executive Dave Cote were appointed by the president.
Already, interest groups on the left are weighing in, urging Democrats to avoid cutting spending on popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.
"Simply put, Social Security has not contributed one thin dime to the current deficit. It should not be used as a piggy bank to pay our way out of the fiscal hole we find ourselves in," said Barbara Kennelly, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
There hasn't been a significant deficit-cutting effort since 1997, when a GOP-led Congress and newly re-elected Clinton came together to produce a balanced budget plan combining a relatively painless set of spending cuts with tax cuts sought by Republicans and a new children's health plan embraced by both parties. That deal was greatly helped by improving deficit projections.
But the fiscal gap confronting the commission is considerably more daunting. Executive Director Bruce Reed says the debt panel will try to close the 2015 budget deficit from the $793 billion projected by the Congressional Budget Office for Obama's budget down to $520 billion or so.
Obama will meet privately with the panel for 20 minutes or so and make brief remarks afterward. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Obama's budget chief Peter Orszag will also address the panel.
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brb votando for cambio
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/26/obama-jumps-race-appeal-latinos-african-americans-women-youth/
President Obama left white, middle-age male voters in his rear-view mirror Monday in launching his first midterm election pitch, calling on "young people, African Americans, Latinos and women" to deliver for Democrats in November.
In a video to supporters, Obama urged those who helped get him elected in 2008 not to abandon Democrats in an election year that is shaping up to take a chunk out of the Democratic majority in Congress.
In the appeal, Obama says new voters who "powered our victory in 2008" need to "stay involved" in 2010.
"It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African Americans, Latinos and women, who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again," he said.
"If you help us do that -- if you help us make sure that first-time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in November -- then together we will deliver on the promise of change and hope and prosperity for generations to come," he said.
The promotion, which reaches out to constituencies that voted in large measure for Obama but typically vote in lower percentages than older and white voters, is being sponsored by the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, the group formed from Obama's massive e-mail support during the 2008 campaign.
Obama also tweeted his message: "Announcing #OFA and @democratsdotorg plans for the 2010 elections—and the important role that you can play. Watch: http://j.mp/blRzwT."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said as the November races gear up, the president wanted to speak to his supporters.
"There are elections in November and I'm sure the president is going to participate," Gibbs said.
While National Republican Committee Chairman Michael Steele has also said that he wants the party to reach out to minority voters, the president's appeal to minority voters comes just as immigration reform takes center stage inside Washington debate circles.
The statement also echoes Obama's warning during the health care debate -- that voters will decide in November whether they like what the administration and Democratic Congress is doing. His remarks repeat the positioning from congressional Democrats who allege Republicans are in the pocket of "big business" to the detriment of the American people.
"Despite everything we've done, our work isn't finished. Today, the health insurance companies, the Wall Street banks, and the special interests who have ruled Washington for too long are already focused on November’s congressional elections. They see these elections as a chance to put their allies back in power, and undo all that we have accomplished. So this year, I need your help once more," he said.
But National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh issued a response saying the president's "rally cry" is an attempt to sell a product independent voters don't want.
"I think the fundamental problem is that candidate Obama has turned out to be a much different person than President Obama and independent voters across the country are simply not buying what they’re trying to sell," Walsh told Fox News Radio. "That's because the politics of hope has been replaced by the policies of higher taxes, reckless spending and more government control over Americans' everyday lives."
Walsh noted that each time the president has gotten involved in an election over the past 15 months, it has not worked out well for Democrats.
"We certainly expect that he's going to go out on the campaign trail but I would point out that he sought to do the same thing in New Jersey and Virginia and most recently in Massachusetts and in all three elections the Democrats lost even with the president's last minute campaigning."
Fox News polling from last week shows that Obama has a 39 percent approval rating from independent voters with a 47 percent disapproval. A separate Gallup Poll out last week showed that self-identified party affiliation had reached its narrowest gap since 2005, when the war in Iraq under the Bush administration was growing unpopular. The poll out Friday showed 46 percent of Americans identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic, while 45 percent identified as or leaned Republican.
---------- Post added at 12:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591542,00.html
Faith, hope and charity: We used to seek God's blessings on the country, we used to pursue maximum freedom to solve problems and we'd rely on one another in times of need.
Now we're being pushed towards what progressives have always found hope in: Dependency on regulations and administrations. Average Americans find that approach to be red tape. Our Founding Fathers found it to be slavery.
So it kind shocks me when there's no outcry to news stories like this one reported in the Financial Times over the weekend: The "U.S. is preparing to pivot from domestic regulatory reform to push for a tough new international capital regime."
Excuse me?
We're talking about the foundation of international financial regulations and global governing. It's a trial balloon being floated out there and I guess it was a success because the response was complete and total silence.
Is it just me who thinks this is a bad idea? Am I alone? I guess so, because even Republicans are OK with this one. How could that happen? Easy: It's those evil, greedy Sith lord Wall Street executives! Like the ones at Goldman Sachs, who are appearing before the almighty Senate Tuesday to get grilled by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (sounds scary) about their so-called attempts to manipulate and profit off the crash of the housing market.
They'll get chewed out and made an example of by people like Chris Dodd, who joined in the chorus of Goldman haters on "Meet the Press" on Sunday:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. CHRIS DODD, D-CONN.: Here we are, 17 months after someone broke into our house in effect and robbed us... and we still haven't changed the locks on the doors.
LARRY SUMMERS, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: These off-balance sheet, nontransparent vehicles with what people call implicit guarantees, invite these kinds of problems.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY, R-ALA.: We have to end once and for all the casino atmosphere on Wall Street, where they're gambling, basically, on synthetic ideas and so forth — with somebody else's money.
Column ArchiveWhy Goldman Is Willing to Take the Heat
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(END VIDEO CLIPS)
You're right, Chris: You have to change those locks. But the other thing to make sure of is that the people you are calling to change the locks aren't the same ones who were involved with the robbery in the first place.
Yes, Dodd and his buddies will chew out Goldman, but if they are the root of all evil, why do these people all still work in the administration?
• William C. Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; was a partner and managing director at Goldman
• Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; spent 18 years at Goldman
• Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Tim Geithner; former Goldman lobbyist
• Philip Murphy; nominated for ambassador to Germany; former Goldman executive
• Diana Farrell; deputy director of the National Economic Council; formerly with Goldman
• Emil Michael; White House fellow; former investment banker with Goldman
There's just a few. And if Goldman really are the bad guys, we have bigger problems than just regulation, because we have to talk about global warming as well.
I got a tip from a watchdog — and by the way, if you are new to the program and don't know what a watchdog is, that's you. We've got millions of watchdogs e-mailing in tips and stories big and small and we welcome every single one of them. We get to as many as we can and even report on some of them, like this one about the Chicago Climate Exchange.
In case you didn't know the Chicago Climate Exchange existed — it does and it started trading in 2003. It's billed as: "North America's only cap-and-trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide." Members agree to a voluntary but legally binding agreement to "meet annual Green House Gas emission reduction targets."
What's cap-and-trade? A scheme designed to transfer wealth from the companies that have to the companies that have not through the regulation of invisible gases. Remember, it was ENRON who lobbied heavily for this type of system, because they knew how to swindle a profit out of it.
Environmentalists like Obama want this system because it will make prices skyrocket and people will be forced to use less energy. But I don't want to put words in his mouth, I'll let him say it:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE BARACK OBAMA: Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Got it? So the main beneficiaries will be big corporations and proponents of the redistribution of wealth. You are the loser here because you pay more for energy. But you can feel good because you saved the planet.
Uh-huh.
Not to mention, other places — like Europe — who have tried to implement green initiatives (like Spain) and then base markets on it are suffering the consequences. Because, as Time unwittingly described the creation of Chicago Climate Exchange, it "creates something out of nothing." There is no value behind the market; it's like Pets.com except now its solar panels.
So who would want to create something like this?
In 2000 and 2001, Chicago Climate Exchange received start-up grants from the Joyce Foundation. The Joyce Foundation is like the George Soros' TIDES Foundation. In fact, it's actually bigger than TIDES and even funds TIDES. Think of it as a place where uber-rich and powerful liberals like to dump their money into, so the cash can be spread around to their pet projects without a direct link.
The Joyce Foundation supports such luminaries as John Ayers (William Ayers' brother).
There was one influential member on the board of the Joyce Foundation at the time the Chicago Climate Exchange got its seed money; someone instrumental in steering the funds towards the creation of the Chicago Climate Exchange. They were on the board from 1994-2002. The founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange, Richard Sandor, said that he "knew (this person) well," which is perhaps how the money was awarded to the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where Sandor was a research professor. I'll get back to that person in a minute.
Sandor saw big things in a climate exchange market. How big?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOOMBERG REPORTER: So how big do you think this market could be?
RICHARD SANDOR, CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE: I think it's a $10 trillion a year market.
REPORTER: Say that again?
SANDOR: $10 trillion a year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
A $10 trillion a year market? That's a lot to go around. In comparison, the value of U.S. company shares on major U.S. and foreign stock exchanges equities market was $15 trillion in 2009. There's a lot of money riding on this climate legislation. But remember: It's all about saving the Earth.
London-based Generation Investment Management sees the earning potential as well. That's why they purchased a stake in Chicago Climate Exchange and are the fifth largest shareholder. The cofounder of the London-based firm? Former Vice President Al Gore. I say cofounder because some of the other founders include David Blood (former Goldman executive), Mark Ferguson (Goldman) and Peter Harris (Goldman).
In 2006, the Chicago Climate Exchange got a nice boost of confidence when an investor stepped to the plate and ponied up to purchase 10 percent of the combined company. Cofounder of the Chicago Exchange said the investment was big and welcome news. The investor? Goldman Sachs.
Oh and I almost forgot: The person at the beginning of it all? The one on the board of the Joyce Foundation that secured the initial funding for this project? Barack Obama.
This is so weird. It's almost like those our government says are responsible for the financial collapse are the ones directly involved in the "solutions." So much for "changing the locks," Chris.
OK, now let's look at this. What you have is a structure. This is the building: the Exchange. You've got the structure, all the players.
So what are we missing? Well, we're missing the bill and the technology to make it happen; the machinery to make it happen.
You are trading air; it's hard to keep track of air. The good news is, the bill is being worked on by Republicans and Democrats. That's cap-and-trade.
The machinery, the device? A patent for such a device was worked on by CO2e.com CEO Carlton Bartels. Shortly after he filed for the patent on his system to trade residential carbon credits, he was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Bartels wife then shopped the idea around and was able to find a buyer. The buyer ended up being a guy who wasn't really a good guy, he committed massive accounting fraud and manipulated earnings in his company in order to make huge bonuses.
That person was Franklin Raines, who just happened to be the CEO of Fannie Mae at the time. The patent was eventually approved by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office on Nov. 7, 2006 — coincidentally the day after Democrats took control of Congress. Thanks to Barbara Hollingsworth of the Washington Examiner for pointing this out to us.
So now, Fannie Mae, who is congressionally mandated to "make housing more affordable," is poised to reap billions on a system that has nothing to do with housing except for that it would make housing costs go up.
That's great.
Remember when Fannie purchased risky mortgages from banks, bundled them together and sold to investors as mortgage-backed securities? And then the housing market was absolutely destroyed? Well, former Fannie VP Scott Lesmes was responsible for that bundling.
Well, here's the good news: Not only will this new carbon trading "system" try the exact same bundling method (except with air); they are using the exact same guy: Scott Lesmes.
But, please, don't worry. The only ones involved in this are the corrupt Franklin Raines, Mr. redistribution of wealth Barack Obama, and all the people who the House and Senate are currently saying are the bad guys. Other than that, this should work out great.
It's almost like Goldman is willing to take a little heat now, in order to get a little piece of the $10 trillion green pie later. I challenge the media: Will anyone pick this story up? Will anyone question this and the timing of it all?
All of a sudden illegal immigration has leap-frogged global warming? Is it because Goldman has to take hits to get the global government structure done? And then they get the payoff? Or will you continue to say oh, he's crazy and not talk about the facts.