Legislative Update: February 19, 2012

TPP Legislative Update & Newsletter

Compliments of Tea Party Patriots

February 19, 2012

Passion to Action
Your fellow patriots in Wisconsin desperately need your help to verify signatures in the recall elections!! From True the Vote: “We need your help! All we ask for is 100 minutes. In 100 minutes you can enter data for approximately 100 petition signatures. Nearly 13,000 volunteers from 49 states have signed up to participate in this recall effort. This is the real deal - citizens are taking control - let's stand together!” They are only 75% done and the deadline is February 27th!! Can you help?? If so, please click here to fill out the volunteer form and PLEASE FORWARD THIS!!!

Federal Budget
 

 No Budget: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 marks the 1028th day since the Senate has passed a budget under the leadership of Harry Reid (D-NV). Do not buy the spin that the Democrats passed a budget when they passed the debt ceiling deal. When we asked the RSC for a good explanation about why the debt ceiling deal was not a budget, this was their response:

• “The Budget Control Act is technically, functionally, and politically different from a budget. A budget is a ten-year document that lays out both a spending and policy direction for the country that includes spending, revenues, and economic projections—among other things. It is a message to the American people that outlines the direction that we think the country should go, and forces us to articulate and defend our choices. The only way that the Budget Control Act is all like a national budget is that it sets a top line spending figure for 2012 and 2013. But to call that a budget would be like a family sitting down at the beginning of the year and just saying, this is how much we want to spend this year, and leaving it at that. No discussion of how much money they expect to earn, where they need to make tough choices on cutting spending, or of the economic reality they expect to face”

 Payroll Deal: From Bob Williams of State Budget Solutions: “The recent payroll tax deal increases the national debt by $100 billion and is in violation of the PAYGO rules. Not only does it increase the national debt by $100 billion, but it also moves up the bankruptcy of the social security fund. Of course, Congress simply ignored the PAYGO rules. Repeatedly Speaker Boehner has caved in on principles and has been responsible for increasing the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office released a study showing than the Social Security Trust Fund had $1 billion less than expected. So rather than trying to put social security on a sound actuary basis Boehner caved in to the Democrats and once again raided the social security fund by cutting the payroll tax.”


 Rotten Highway Bill: According to Jim DeMint, the highway bill represents another example of DC politicians’ addiction to big spending. And he states, “Despite all the hyperventilating about a tea party takeover in Congress, the sad truth is that in 2011 Congress increased spending from the year before, raised the debt limit by $2 trillion, and funded ObamaCare.”

 No Solutions: Watch Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner laugh about the fact that the President’s budget doesn’t address our out-of-control debt, and admit that they have no solutions.
 
 Obama’s Budget: The President finally released his budget today, and as expected, it would give us deeper deficits, increased spending, bigger government, and higher taxes. Key facts from his budget:

• Spends Too Much:

               $47 trillion of government spending over the next decade
               Proposes a net increase over current spending projections

• Taxes Too Much:

              $1.9 trillion in new taxes
              Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
                spending

• Borrows Too Much:

             Four straight years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits;
                no plan to reduce the debt
             Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion

• Budget Gimmicks & Broken Promises

             Overstates new deficit reduction by taking credit for savings already
                enacted
             Exploits discredited budget gimmick by “not spending” nearly $1
                trillion that was never going to be spent

Read more about President Obama’s budget here. And don’t forget, Obama has missed the budget deadline three out of four years. If you’d like to read the President’s one-pager on his budget, click here. Mercatus Center’s analysis is here.

 Crony Capitalist: Check out this graphic that shows the connections (i.e. flow of money) between the Obama administration and his cronies. (Note: It’s a graphic put out by the GOP and at the bottom they ask for donations. Including this graphic in TPP’s newsletter is not an endorsement or statement of support of the GOP. It’s just a good graphic to share.)

 Deficit Spending: Read a couple of good analyses of President Obama’s budget here and here. Also, check out this chart that highlights average annual deficit spending as a percentage of GDP.

Regulations & Jobs

• Stimulus Failure: Also from the RSC is a graph showing the jobs situation in relation to the stimulus. And read this report from the CBO on the failure of the stimulus.

Obamacare


Visit http://www.roadtorepeal.com/ to get info on the TPP rally in DC on 3/24!!!

• HSA Coalition files amicus brief
• Milliman, Inc. releases study of Medical Loss Ratio effects
• Sign the Virginia Tea Party Federation’s petition to repeal Obamacare!!
• Obama gives cabinet secretaries ability to fundraise for political organizations
• OMB Chief Contradicts Obama Brief: It's a Penalty, Not a Tax
• Payroll tax deal held some minor cuts to Obamacare
• Budgetary fraud
• Obama’s continued war on religious liberty: Chaplains treasonous?
• 45 Conservative leaders and organizations oppose HHS regulations
• Obamacare hurts small businesses hiring prospects
• United States Preventative Services Task Force – more bureaucrat control
•  Major “oops” in the law – don’t set up the state-based exchanges!!
• ACOs: HMOs Déjà Vu All Over Again
• AAPS opposes the individual mandate and filed an amicus brief
• Hidden mortgage tax

Education

• Disgraced Teacher Retires from NY City Schools. Former NYC "rubber room" teacher Alan Rosenfeld retires after making $100k a year since being removed from the classroom in 2001. NYC taxpayers will be on the hook to pay Rosenfeld $85,400 per year in retirement earnings plus health benefits for the rest of his life.
• Get Involved: Articles such as this demonstrate yet another symptom of a failed public education system. Rather than putting band-aids on the symptoms, why not join us at TEA for Education in our campaign to transform education? We are currently represented in 12 states and call on all concerned patriots to help us make education about the children. We cannot afford to waste another generation: get involved now!

Sustainable Development and Property Rights

• States Fighting Back: Tennessee is working on a bill to define
• Executive Order: Sign the petition opposing President Obama’s Executive Order that allows for the further implementation of Agenda 21.
• People Power: Vista, CA is no longer a part of ICLEI due to pressure from the citizens! Congrats!
• Get Involved: For more information on any of these issues, check out http://www.agenda21today.com/.

Illegal Immigration

• Documentary: TPP North Carolina State Coordinator Mark Hager assisted with the documentary titled, “Invasion: Freedom Under Fire!” about the struggles of American citizens who live along the southern border. If you would like to order a copy, please click here for more information.
• Waivermania: Kansas’ Agriculture Secretary is asking the Department of Homeland Security for a waiver so that agricultural businesses in Kansas could hire illegal immigrants. The agriculture businesses and others in the business community are supporting this effort. So far the Obama administration have handed out healthcare waivers and educational waivers. Are illegal immigrant waivers next? When waivers become the law of the land, there is no law.
• Alabama Too: The Attorney General in Alabama is trying to get the legislature to gut their new, stricter laws dealing with illegal aliens because he doesn’t want to have to go to court to fight for it. The Chamber of Commerce and the agricultural businesses are also supportive of the attempt to gut the laws.

Constitutional Issues

• New Website: Please check out a new website called the Intolerable Acts at http://www.theintolerableacts.org/. There you will find resources to fight against the unconstitutional provisions embedded within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). There are a number of states that are fighting back by passing resolutions. You can find templates, etc. on the website to use with your own local and state elected officials.
• Still Confused? Are you still confused about NDAA? Click here for a good explanation of why it’s so bad. And there’s more info here from the Tenth Amendment Center, refuting claims from pro-NDAA members of Congress.
• States Fighting Back: Tennessee (again!) is fighting back with legislation to help protect their residents from NDAA. North Carolina and Oklahoma are also fighting back against NDAA.
• Repeal: Ron Paul has a bill that would repeal NDAA, which would allow Congress to rewrite the funding portion of the bill without the unconstitutional portions.
• Enemy Expatriation Act: Read about it here.
• Fast and Furious: This larger-than-life scandal appears to run deep through three departments.

House of Representatives

Weekly Wrap Up – provided by the RSC

• Domestic Energy Production — Last week, the House approved H.R. 3408, Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security (PIONEERS) Act, by a vote of 237-187. As you may have seen, the transportation bill was broken into several sections earlier in the week. The PIONEERS Act was the energy portion of the bill. The highway portion will likely be on the floor the week after recess. The following provisions in this legislation might be of interest to you:

           Keystone XL Pipeline - The legislation directs the Federal Energy Regulatory
           Commission (FERC) to, within 30 days, issue a permit for the construction for
           the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. If FERC does not issue this permit within 30
           days then the permit is deemed to have been issued.
           Oil Shale Leasing – It directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct at least
           15 commercial lease sales for oil shale development. According to Section
           17003, each sale must consist of 25,000 acres. The legislation also codifies the
           2008 regulations by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the November
           17, 2008 BLM Resource Management Plan Amendments. These both pertain to
           oil shale leasing on federal lands.
           Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing – It also directs the Secretary to conduct
           several oil and gas lease sales off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf
           of Mexico, offshore Virginia, and offshore southern California. However, oil
           and gas exploration off the coast of California must be done with existing
           offshore infrastructure or from onshore-based drilling. The legislation also
           opens for development approximately 1,350 square miles in the Eastern Gulf of
           Mexico. The Eastern Gulf is currently closed to oil and gas development.
           Further, the legislation requires the Secretary to conduct the proposed lease sale
           in the North Aleutian Basin, in the Bering Sea off the Alaskan coast. The
           legislation also establishes guidelines for revenue sharing for coastal states. Of
           revenues received by the United States, 37.5% shall be allocated to coastal
           states that are affected by the lease sale.
           Alaska Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing – The legislation also repeals the
           ban on, and directs the Secretary to implement, an oil and gas leasing program
           for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The
           Secretary is also directed to conduct oil and gas lease sales for no less than
           50,000 acres in ANWR, within 22 months of enactment. The Secretary is also
           required to lease oil and gas lease sales of an additional 50,000 acres (at a
           minimum), at 6, 12, and 18-month intervals. The Secretary is allowed to
          designate up to 45,000 acres as “special areas” that are off limits for oil and gas
          exploration. This legislation also requires that 50% of the amount of bonus, rent,
          and royalty revenues from oil and gas leases in the Coastal Plain be deposited in
          the Treasury.

• Payroll Tax Cut Deal — Friday, the House approved a Conference Report to H.R. 3630 (see attached), the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act by a vote of 293-192. The deal reached will provide an extension of the current payroll tax rates for the remainder of calendar year 2012. In addition, it provides a fully offset delay in the implementation of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (the so-called “Doc-fix”) and extends federally funded Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits (for the tenth time since 2008) for the remainder of calendar year 2012. Many conservatives argue that extending unemployment benefits creates incentives to delay returning to work, which has a negative effect on the economy. It offsets the cost of extended UI benefits and the Doc-fix with a number of provisions to reduce the deficit, including increasing pension contributions for new federal employees, cutting some funding of Obamacare, and auctioning spectrum frequencies. Some conservatives may be concerned that the new revenues generated from these provisions, rather than being used to pay down the national debt, are instead being used for new spending. In addition, the bill reforms the federal UI benefit structure by lowering the maximum number of weeks of UI eligibility and allowing states to require drug testing and job training. (NOTE: RSC Chairman Jordan voted against the conference report.)

            According to CBO, the Conference Report increases the deficit by $101.1
            billion in fiscal year 2012, and $89.3 billion over the 2012-2022 period. The bill
            reduces revenues by $77.6 billion over the 2012-2022 period and increases
            spending by $11.7 billion over the same period, according to CBO’s and
            JCT’s estimates. H.R. 3630 was approved in the House on December 13, 2011
            by a vote of 234–193. Currently these programs are operating under a
            two-month extension (H.R. 3765) set to expire on February 29, 2012.

The Week Ahead

The House will not be in session this coming week.

Senate:  No update has been sent as of this weekend. The Senate will not be in session this coming week.

• Read Mercatus Center’s "Blueprint for Regulatory Reform" and their analysis of the jobs situation. And here are a couple of their charts on employment/unemployment.