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Is Obama Having HIS Way Over Economic Stimulus Fight?
Well, it certainly looks that way in this Gallup Poll, nothwithstanding the Rasmussen and CBS News polls that say otherwise. Mark Blumenthal over at Pollster has an explanation of the poll disparities.Flap agrees with Allahpundit that the American public wants to see the government DO SOMETHING and will give President Obama (who, after all, has only been in office a few weeks) the benefit of the doubt.
However, the GOP has positioned itself well on the fight. Obama, Reid and Pelosi OWN this bill and if the economy does not rapidly improve they will pay the political price.
Of course, Senator Susan Collins, when the bill returns from a House Conference could vote the behemoth down if there is too much pork.
But, don’t count on it.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus Bill, S.1.
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Poll Watch: 62 % Want Economic Stimulus Bill to Have MORE Tax Cuts and Less Spending
The latest Rasmussen poll on the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus bill says American voters want MORE tax cuts and less government spending – echoing the GOP.With the Senate poised to vote Tuesday on an $827-billion version of the economic recovery plan, 62% of U.S. voters want the plan to include more tax cuts and less government spending.
Just 14% would like to move in the opposite direction with more government spending and fewer tax cuts, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twenty percent (20%) would be happy to pass it pretty much as is, and five percent (5%) are not sure.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly want to see more tax cuts and less government spending. Democrats are more evenly divided: 42% agree with the Republicans, 32% want to pass the plan as is, and 22% would like to see more government spending and fewer tax cuts.
Most conservative and moderate voters want to see more tax cuts. A plurality of liberals say the plan should be passed pretty much as it is.
This is not surprising since Americans traditionally support more of their own money to spend the way THEY want.
Overall, 37% of voters favor the stimulus plan and 43 % are opposed.
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll – showing that 62% want more tax cuts and less government spending – is similar to a CBS News poll taken last week. That poll found that 62% said that reducing taxes will do more than increased spending to end the recession.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus Bill, S.1, HR.1, PORKULUS
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Obama Bait and Switch – PORKULUS: Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Economic Bailouts
Flap thought Barack Obama ran on “change”- America from the Borrow-and-Spend ways of the Republican Party that has left America $11 Trillion dollars in debt.Bait and switch with a $9.7 Trillion government bailout?
Here is John McCain on yesterday’s Face the Nation on why he and all Republicans except for Senators Specter, Collins and Snowe will or have voted against the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus Bill, S.1 or HR. 1.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, PORKULUS, S.1, HR 1, Economic Stimulus Bill
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Chilling Thought of the Day: We Are All Socialists Now
The new Newsweek Magazine Cover for the week of February 9, 2009
The subheading lede: In many ways our economy already resembles a European one. As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French.So, does the Washington Post and Newsweek know something that Americans do not know?
We are French?
The Newsweek writers are conflicted on what conservatives who deplore an ever increasing role of government in the economy are actually saying – channeling Bush. Remember Bill Clinton’s pronuncement that the “era of big government is over?”
It is but the LEFT wants to try to reimpose it by fear-mongering the current economic crisis and passing a bloated $1 Trillion plus economic Stimulus spending bill.
As a taxpayers revolt is mounting against the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus bill, S.1, the specter of increasing socialism is not a fait de comple.
Technorati Tags: Socialism, Barack Obama, PORKULUS, Economic Stimulus Bill
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PORKULUS: Feeling UNSTIMULATED About the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus Bill?
In his book “Capitalism and Freedom” (1962) Milton Friedman (1912-2006) advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market as a means of creating political and social freedom.An excerpt from an interview with Phil Donahue in 1979.
If conservatives (Via Instapundit) are feeling unstimulated or down about the apparent passage of a $1 trillion government spending spree, watch the above exerpt of Milton Friedman and remember why a limited government role in free market capitalism creates more political and social freedom.
Definitely food for thought.
Technorati Tags: PORKULUS, Milton Friedman, Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus
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Day By Day by Chris Muir February 7, 2009 – Getting in Dutch
President Obama and Congressional Democrats have seemingly won a legislative victory when two or three GOP moderates sold out their party and agreed to PORKULUS or S.1, the Economic Stimulus bill.The bill in the Senate has been cut from $920 billion to $820 billion but once the Senate passes the bill, it must be reconciled with the House passed version, H.R. 1. And House Democrats are not happy about the Senate cuts.
The GOP has ONLY two or three members (Senators Susan Colins, Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe) who support the bill. Most Republicans are strongly opposed to the compromised bill and ridicule it as too expensive and an ineffective stimulus to the economy.
U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), issued the following statement tonight after the announcement of a compromise on the Senate stimulus bill.
“While I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues to bring down the price tag of this bill, the fact is we still face a trillion dollar spending bill. Making it worse, the bill is 93% spending and only 7% stimulation. Over the past few days I have fought to include more in the way of real stimulus through higher percentage of infrastructure and defense spending, while working to cut much of the typical government waste often found in a bill of this size. Yet Democrats have blocked these efforts.
“The good news tonight is that the American people are catching on to the fact that this is the largest spending bill in history and are becoming more and more vocal in their opposition. My offices in Oklahoma and Washington DC have been flooded with emails, phone calls and faxes overwhelmingly opposed to this trillion dollar legislation. They can rest assured that my vote remains an unwavering ‘no.'”
There is no guarantee that the GOP Senators will support the conferenced bill, should House Democrats not agree to Senate imposed cuts.
Stay tuned……..
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Day By Day, PORKULUS, S.1
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PORKULUS: Tentative Deal With Gang of Two or Three GOP Senators Reached?
+++++Update+++++The U.S. Senate remains in session considering amendments to S.1. at 11:15 PM EST
Nobody has seen the final bill. Two GOP Senators Arlen Specter and Susan Collins have sold out the Republican Party and now will prevent a filibuster of the bill.
A final vote is expected sometime this weekend. A cloture vote is now expected on Monday.
Stay tuned for updates.
A tentative deal reached?Amid stunning new job losses and yet another bank failure, key senators and the White House reached tentative agreement Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama’s recovery plan. Two officials said the emerging agreement was for a bill with a $780 billion price tag, but there was no immediate confirmation.
The Senate is in recess until 7 PM EST.
Stay tuned…..
Follow up to the minute updates on Twitter —————->
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PORKULUS: A Deal or Not with GOP Senators to Pass the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus Bill?
Deal or No Deal?Unknown but specualtion is running rampant.
Byron York of National Review says possibly.
Just got off the phone with an influential Republican senator. I asked how things stood with the stimulus, and he answered instantly, “They’ve cut a deal with three of our guys. They’re delaying us from offering amendments. I suspect that as soon as they’ve got it written, they will offer it as an amendment, vote on it, and that will be it.” He didn’t have details on what the deal might be, but most Republicans seem to suspect it will involve relatively small cuts — and very little change in the price tag of the bill from the House version — that will be touted as a major bipartisan compromise. My senator suspects — hopes? — that no more than four Republicans will vote for the bill.
Jay Newton-Small over at Time’s Swampland says possibly.
The debate this morning, according to members of the Gang of 18, is about size and scope. The group is meeting in Senate Minority Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office as I type this. Ben Nelson, whom I profiled this morning, and Claire McCaskill both expressed optimism heading into the meeting. As did Reid on the Senate floor this morning, “I’m cautiously optimistic,†he said, though he went on to threaten a weekend “test vote†if an agreement is not hammered out today – a marked retreat from his boast yesterday on the floor that he had the 60 votes and he wouldn’t necessarily wait forever for the Gang of 18 to come to an agreement.
“Composition and size are still sticking points at this point, but I think we’re getting there on both of them,†McCaskill told reporters in front of Reid’s offices.
“The hope is we will still be able to pick up two more Republicans and if we’re able to do that then I think we’ll have sufficient numbers to get a vote,†Nelson told reporters. Nelson said they have some Republican support though they are still short a few votes of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster, meaning they may well have lost some moderate Dems since Democrats control 58 seats.
Maine Senator Susan Collins, who has been the lead Republican negotiator, was less optimistic. “We don’t have a deal,†she barked at press this morning. “We’re still working on it. I can’t talk right now.â€
Stay tuned and watch Flap’s Twitter feed in the right sidebar for up to the minute information or Follow Flap on Twitter here.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus Bill, S.1., PORKULUS
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PORKULUS: Just Say NO – Melt The Phones
Just “Say No” to the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus Bill, S.1. Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now saying he has a two GOP Senators to avoid a filibuster and pass S.1 this afternoon.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Thursday that he has enough votes to pass a more than $900 billion stimulus bill out of the Senate.
Reid said he believes at least two Republicans of “good will” would support the Democratic-crafted package.
“Do we have the votes? I believe we do,” said Reid, who expects a final vote on the package will be held on Thursday.
It appears the stimulus would attract only a few GOP votes, however, and Senate Democratic leaders distanced themselves from earlier hopes that the economic recovery could draw more Republican support.
Michelle Malkin has the list of suspected GOP Senators who have gone squishy and might support this pork-laden monster which is a Generational Theft Act.
- Collins (202) 224-2523
- Snowe (202) 224-5344
- Specter (202) 224-4254
- Voinovich (202) 224-3353 (Says he will not support bill in current form?)
Call them, melt the phones and tell them to vote NO on S.1.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, PORKULUS, S.1., Economic Stimulus Bill
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PORKULUS 50 Outrages: Look What is in the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus Bill
National Review has the sad but true poop on PORKULUS – the Democrat/Obama Economic Stimulus bill, S.1.VARIOUS LEFT-WINGERY:
1. $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
2. $380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
3. $300 million for grants to combat violence against women
4. $2 billion for federal child care block grants
5. $6 billion for university building projects
6. $15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
7. $4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion to provide “youth†summer jobs for people up to the age of 24
8. $1 billion for community development block grants
9. $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activitiesâ€
10. $650 million for digital TV coupons, including $90 million to educate “vulnerable populationsâ€
POORLY DESIGNED TAX RELIEF:
11. $15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
12. $145 billion for “Making Work Pay†tax credits
13. $83 billion for the earned income credit
STIMULUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT:
14. $150 million for the Smithsonian
15. $34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
16. $500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
17. $44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
18. $350 million for Agriculture Department computers
19. $88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building next year
20. $448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
21. $600 million to convert federal auto fleet to hybrids
22. $450 million for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
23. $600 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
24. $1 billion for the Census Bureau
INCOME TRANSFERS:
25. $89 billion for Medicaid
26. $30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
27. $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
28. $20 billion for food stamps
PURE PORK:29. $4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
30. $850 million for Amtrak
31. $87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
32. $1.7 billion for the National Park System
33. $55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
34. $7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programsâ€
35. $150 million for agricultural commodity purchases
36. $150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fishâ€
RENEWABLE WASTE:
37. $2 billion for renewable energy research
38. $2 billion for a “clean-coal†power plant in Illinois
39. $6.2 billion shall be for the Weatherization Assistance Program
40. $3.5 billion shall be for energy efficiency and conservation block grants
41. $3.4 billion shall be for the State Energy Program
42. $200 million shall be for state and local electric-transport projects
43. $300 million shall be for energy-efficient appliance rebate programs
44. $400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
45. $1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
46. $1.5 billion for green technology loan guarantees
47. $8 billion for innovative technology loan guarantee program
48. $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
49. $4.5 billion for electricity grid
REWARDING STATE IRRESPONSIBILITY:50. $79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
Think this is enough of an outrage?
The entire bill should be scraped and reconstructed with items that actually WILL stimulate the economy.
How about a payroll tax cut to start?
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, PORKULUS, S.1, Economic Stimulus Bill