Does it bother anyone....

[Guest]

that despite promises that the new stimulus bill would be posted for 48 hours for public consumption, it now will not be.....seems it will be voted on tomorrow morning. This, and the fact that all members of congress have even yet to see it.

I realize that many of you who read here consider me to be a wacko or something or someone who just stirs the pot and that is your right, but these past 3 weeks have been nothing but spend and break promises and sign waivers for ethics along with the tax problem ridden appointees.

[Guest]

If you think many residents of TV give a good hoot, you are wrong. Softball, Golf, Swimming, Pickle Ball, etc. etc. That is what's important. Meanwhile you don't hear of the foreclosures in TV, or the people forced to sell their homes, and there are plenty. If you have not prepared well for retirement, then this bill may eat you out of house and home. Be prepared not only applies to the Boy Scouts! This bill is nothing more than smoke and mirrors disguised as a pay back for all that got Obama elected........flat out PERIOD!

[Guest]

If you think many residents of TV give a good hoot, you are wrong. Softball, Golf, Swimming, Pickle Ball, etc. etc. That is what's important. Meanwhile you don't hear of the foreclosures in TV, or the people forced to sell their homes, and there are plenty. If you have not prepared well for retirement, then this bill may eat you out of house and home. Be prepared not only applies to the Boy Scouts! This bill is nothing more than smoke and mirrors disguised as a pay back for all that got Obama elected........flat out PERIOD!


I hope you are wrong about the Villagers!!! I KNOW there are people interested...I just hope they did not stop paying attention after the election. In 3 weeks, we have seen so very very much happen, and so much of it is totally political...things we harped loudly about during the last administration (that is not a pro Bush comment..just a fact), but are just accepting !!

Last I read this evening this bill was 65/70 % spending and not stimulus related !

[Guest]

Let us hope we both are right to a degree. This bill will indebt our children and children's children for years. The only people who benefited from this are the politicians, after all they wrote the bill. Think about that.

[Guest]

How can these idiots vote to adopt somthing that big having never seen it?:cus:

[Guest]

And now each hour we hear more and more about how the WHITE HOUSE IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE CENSUS....wow...I sure hope we wake up soon !

[Guest]

I guess Friday the 13th is a fitting day. The only thing left to say is we've lost our moral compass, all common sense and we are going to pay for it dearly in the coming years.

[Guest]

as lecturing. There will continue to be listeners as long as their is a hint of hope what he is selling does come to pass. History as well as the experts (you pick 'em) would attest....to not hold your breath.
That he allowed all the non stimulus pets of the various lawmakers to go forward is a very bad signal from one who purports CHANGE. A golden opportunity missed to signal things will be different. He chose to go with the ongoing modus operendi of an inept process.

The bait and the preaching is for jobs...jobs...jobs. The forecast is to cut the job loss in half by the end of this year. And attain "stability" one year from now. I accept that forecast as nebulous as it is. But where oh where is the forecast of the millions of jobs this new bill is to create? Totally absent. In corporate America (the good old days) when one asked for money a plan was needed reflecting how the deliverable would be attained. Today....WORDS....WORDS....WORDS...no plan. No measurement. Nothing but words.

The feel good rhetoric will not sustain if there is no better forecast than has so far been put forth.....for the now trillions being spent.

If history is correct and repeats itself, what could possibly be the price tag of the next proposal? And how much pork will it include.

CHANGE? Only words!!!.

BTK

[Guest]

And now each hour we hear more and more about how the WHITE HOUSE IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE CENSUS....wow...I sure hope we wake up soon !

Another fake problem from the GOP and Faux News.

[Guest]

Commerce candidate to reconsider.

It is obvious there is more job/responsibility shifting going on (not saying good or bad....it just is). To date the trend is for the changes to put more of the responsibilities with WH insiders....not good or bad just that it is happening. Perfect examples, just review the changes in responsibilities that have been put in place for the Secretary of State (Clinton) office. It is a mere shadow of the past.

There is no doubt the insider circle has been pulled in tight..and the responsibilities drafted from other cabinet past responsibilities.

Maybe a new accomplishment will occur with the reigning in of task responsibility. Once again being hopeful.....while being disappointed that thus far it is still business as usual in Washington. I know it has been less than a month for the poor guy...but dumb things that don't work or are proven to be ineffective ......like the ram rodded rescue bill of pork...could have been CHANGED day ONE.....but was not.

BTK

[Guest]

Kayaker. do you really want Rahm Emanuel in charge of the 2010 census???
If FOX news is fake, what about the other networks?? Tell me about all the Republicans who are on all the other channels, as compared to the Democrats who are on FOX.

[Guest]

Kayaker, Not sure what you mean by fake news, but this bill has more pork in it then all bills combined over the past 3 years. It is about 75% pork, 15% stimulus and 10% could go either way. It is the biggest spending, biggest pork $$$ ever past in the history of this country. By far. And we are leaving our grand children to pay for this stupidity. Some legacy for our generation. Congratulations to us all.

[Guest]

What bothers me is that the Democratic Clowns of Congress call this a stimulus package, when its function is obviously nothing more than income distribution and the furtherance of their Democratic agenda. For example:
1. President Obama's "Make Work Pay" initiative, the tax "credit" of $400 per person, has been limited (for singles) to people making less than $75,000. I guess they have forgotten that the Bush "tax credit" a year ago that went to lower income people didn't stimulate anything - in general the people basically saved it or paid down debt. If you want people to spend it, you need to include the people who "don't need it". That might be stimulative. (Disclosure: My significant other, who worked part time and made less than $10K last year got a check - I paid $22K in income taxes last year and I got squat. Hence my bad attitude).
2. $21 Billion to NY alone for medicaid, education, transportation and public housing assistance. How much is going to the other states? Good going liberal congress, but little stimulation here.
3. Expansion of unemployment insurance. No argument that this is needed, but it's not stimulative and shouldn't be in this package.
4. $70 Billion to fix the AMT tax problem. Again, definintely needed, but not stimulative and has no business being in this bill.
5. Food Stamp increased funding. Duh.
6. One of my favorites - $1.6 Billion to allow businesses to buy back their own debt at a discount. Say again????
7. $93 Billion for high speed rail and Amtrack assistance. Chief Clown Harry Reid pushed this, as it is expected to go mostly to his state and California for the development of a high rail system between LA and Las Vegas. And they say they remove most of the pork from this package? Say again?
8. $7.2 Billion for broadband internet "investment" targeting poor and rural areas.
9. $100 Billion for non-construction education programs. Here are the Democrats at their best. They just love to spend our Federal taxes on local issues and "problems".
10. $20 Billion to develop medical records technology.
11. $70 Billion to fix the AMT tax problem. This is something that is needed, but again, is not stimulative and doesn't belong here.
These are just examples, but they are some of the more eggregious examples. The examples above are all in Billions of dollars - that's Billion with a B - for those of you who have become jaded by the numbers our government confiscates from us and spends for their reelection campaigns, a billion is one thousand million dollars. We are losing track of what the numbers really mean.
I realize that the Demos won the election, and they should get to do some of the things they like to do, but even you liberals out there should be appalled by the lack of leadership and willingness to spend your money willy-nilly on projects that have no stimulative value whatsoever.
They could have stimulated the economy with a few, large targeted tax incentives, for example cash for the purchase of an auto or home, but that wouldn't have furthered their agenda. Sad, and our children are going to pay, assuming our economy recovers on its own someday.

[Guest]

I’m in a bad mood today to begin with but I really don’t blame Obama, Reid, Pelosi or any others of their kind. They are doing exactly what I expected them to do and exactly what they have always wanted to do. I blame each and every American who put these people in power. We brought this down on ourselves.

Did you hear the sound clip floating around the news of the lady who said “I thank God Obama is here, now I won’t have to pay my mortgage or gas for my car anymore.”

We are turing a corner and it ain't good. What happened to us anyway?

[Guest]

just ONE program that had as it's result an increase in jobs.
There is good reason why words infer different results.
Where did you ever see a quote for the return expected on spending???
Relax...you won't.
Return on investment is when a result is not only expected, but required in order to get the funds. So where in this new bundle of spending are ANY results spelled out. NO WHERE.

One program with the end result of NEW jobs being generated...from our current Congress and the same-o, same-o business as usual....forget it.

Get ready for the pre announcements that will be forth coming not too long from now about how much additional funding will be required to establish momentum :1rotfl: sorry couldn't help it....momentum is usually a positive inference and I didn't mean to interject it upon a political process:jester:

BTK

[Guest]

I've already heard numbers being floated as high as two more trillion dollars they will ask for to fix this "problem". But change is COMING!! :pepper2:

[Guest]

If you think many residents of TV give a good hoot, you are wrong. Softball, Golf, Swimming, Pickle Ball, etc. etc. That is what's important. Meanwhile you don't hear of the foreclosures in TV, or the people forced to sell their homes, and there are plenty. If you have not prepared well for retirement, then this bill may eat you out of house and home. Be prepared not only applies to the Boy Scouts! This bill is nothing more than smoke and mirrors disguised as a pay back for all that got Obama elected........flat out PERIOD! I suspect there are 2 categories of retired Villagers: one group is on a fixed, guaranteed pension such as a gov't or military pension, often with health care benefits .... the other group is in trouble... that's the group that retired on a 401-K nest egg (these are the pvt business owners, retired profesionals, etc). This group has seen their retirement plan melt away like an ice cube on a Florida summer day. Believe me, this group is paying attention. This would be another interesting poll for Russ to put together: how many Villagers are here on a safe and secure fixed pension and how many are here living on a 401-K retirement type of plan.

[Guest]

I suspect there are 2 categories of retired Villagers: one group is on a fixed, guaranteed pension such as a gov't or military pension, often with health care benefits .... the other group is in trouble... that's the group that retired on a 401-K nest egg (these are the pvt business owners, retired profesionals, etc). This group has seen their retirement plan melt away like an ice cube on a Florida summer day. Believe me, this group is paying attention. This would be another interesting poll for Russ to put together: how many Villagers are here on a safe and secure fixed pension and how many are here living on a 401-K retirement type of plan.
No matter what the source of their income, there are always folk who "Peter Pan" their way through life, and don't pay attention to anything that happens around them. It's always someone else's problem to fix, as they abhor responsibility for their own lives or anything else.

[Guest]

Kayaker. do you really want Rahm Emanuel in charge of the 2010 census???


It's simple.
After the way the Republicans have manipulated past census numbers, America no longer trusts the GOP and wants Obama to handle it.

[Guest]

There’s a recipe for success. Maybe they will convince us we are in a census crises and will need another trillion dollars to fix it.

[Guest]

retired with fixed pensions from non 401-K sources.
Do not ingest a false sense of security in that thinking. A friend whose company placed their retirement in life long annuities has recently received a letter stating the monthly amount will be reduced for all the horrible reasons we all know. And that there is a possibility under a continuing down turn, the fund could run dry.

That same condition exists more or less with all pension funds. So I would not contemplate being invulnerable.....not likely but not invulnerable.

BTK

PS a sad reminder is all the pensioners with GM who got taken last year....and that was before they publicized their demise before Christmas 2008....happens to the best and more will fall if the bad news continues...and so far it is the only sure thing!!!

[Guest]

It's simple.
After the way the Republicans have manipulated past census numbers, America no longer trusts the GOP and wants Obama to handle it.

I beg to differ. "America" never said anything about trust, the census or wanting Mr. Obama to be the guardian ad litem for all humans within the national boundary.

Personally, I don't trust the GOP or the Democrats, and I sure don't trust forked-tongue politicians who sell snake-oil during campaigns and weasel-word afterwards.

For those Americans who need someone to be in charge of their lives and want Mr. Obama to manage their existence, they got what they wanted, but it sure isn't "America" or all Americans.

[Guest]

It's simple.
After the way the Republicans have manipulated past census numbers, America no longer trusts the GOP and wants Obama to handle it.

Are you serious or is your Alzheimer's disease worse than my wife's? The Census bureau has always been run by statistical professionals who gave zero accountability to partisan politics.

The Bureau has pioneered both statistical analysis and the use of large Mainframe computers in doing that analysis. It has always been objective and worked hard to do the most accurate analysis of our population possible.

For the first time, this proposal takes the Census Bureau from the supervision of a Senate ratified member of the cabinet to the one of the most rabidly partisan politician in the history of this country - Rahm Emanuel.

All of us, both Democrat and Republican, need to work towards an honest democracy. This requires a Bureau free of White House influence, be it Democrat or Republican. Until now, this has happened - do you support Obama's attempt to the put the Census on the same level as Chicago voting registers? I know it is hard for a democrat, but do try to answer the question honestly.

[Guest]

is toward centralization of power in the WH???
Look at the stripping of the Secretary of State's responsibilities. The increased number of staffers and the size of the so called inner circle are indicative of things to come.

In a normal political environment (I don't know if that really exists) the word bi-partisan, when used by either party, in any context, at best is empty rhetoric for the uninformed.

We have yet to see Rahm Emanuel at his best yet...if I were to try to find a word that creates a parallel or generates a vision, the best one I can come up with, appropriate for those of our age groups...is.....GESTAPO (WHEN USED AS AN ADJECTIVE)

Ge⋅sta⋅po
   /gəˈstɑpoʊ; Ger. gəˈʃtɑpoʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [guh-stah-poh; Ger. guh-shtah-poh] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun

2. (sometimes lowercase) of or resembling the Nazi Gestapo, esp. in the brutal suppression of opposition: The new regime is using gestapo tactics.

Some may view "brutal suppression of opposition" a bit harsh, but these are wors used regularly to describe his methodology.

We'll see.

BTK