This September, the movers and shakers of the liberty movement will gather at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, for the second annual Liberty Political Action Conference (LPAC)!
From September 13-15, LPAC will bring together hundreds of freedom-loving grassroots activists from all across the nation for 3 exciting days of speakers, training, receptions, and more!
Confirmed speakers include:
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Mike Lee
Senator Jim DeMint
Congressman Justin Amash
Congressman Scott Garrett
Joel Salatin
Mike Church
Jerry Doyle
And many more!
Campaign for Liberty’s own Donna Holt (State Director, VA C4L), Shawn Dow (State Coordinator, AZ C4L), and Tony DeMott (State Coordinator, MI C4L) will share their experiences and successes as state leaders. Dave Pridgeon, C4L county leader and State Operations volunteer, will share his many successes in the local arena.
Of course, LPAC would not be complete without Congressman Ron Paul, who has confirmed he will be in attendance.
Congressman Paul has stood up in defense of the Constitution and individual freedom for over 30 years, and his founding of C4L in 2008 ensured a continuing grassroots impact on the political landscape by liberty-minded activists.
LPAC 2012 is guaranteed to be an exciting, motivating, and encouraging weekend for all those desiring to reclaim the Republic and restore the Constitution.
And our grassroots training will equip you with the tools you need to turn your passion into effective action.
If you are serious about reclaiming the Republic, you simply must be at this Conference.
You can purchase your tickets and reserve a room at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, by clicking here.
When you purchase your tickets, make sure to enter Donation Referral Code NCLPAC2012 to be entered into a drawing to win a free VIP pass to the Conference!
Please visit www.LPAC.com to learn more about our Conference activities and reserve your ticket(s) today!
Don’t miss this opportunity to gather with like-minded patriots from across the nation who share your commitment to winning our country back.
LPAC 2012 will equip you for legislative battles and capture the excitement and enthusiasm of a movement ready to make its mark on history!
I look forward to seeing you there.
In Liberty,
Adam Love
State Coordinator
North Carolina Campaign For Liberty
P.S. LPAC 2012 will be held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, on September 13-15. Click here to order your tickets and reserve your room. Enter Donation Referral Code NCLPAC2012 for a chance to win a free VIP pass to the Conference!
Showing posts with label Sen. Jim DeMint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sen. Jim DeMint. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Washington Examiner Op-Ed by Sen. Jim DeMint: Export competitiveness, import cronyism: The case against Ex-Im
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
There are two kinds of companies who receive corporate welfare from Washington: successful businesses that don’t need it, and unsuccessful companies that don’t deserve it.
Everything else you hear from politicians when corporate welfare comes up – rhetoric about public-private partnerships, about matching Europe’s subsidies of foreign competitors – is a mere distraction from the truth: They are mortgaging our children’s and grandchildren’s future to subsidize the politically connected.
This was the case with Solyndra, the infamously bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer who turned close political ties to the Obama Administration into more than $500 million in sweetheart loan guarantees.
It was the case with the auto bailouts, in which President Obama repaid the massive contributions union bosses made to his 2008 campaign by bailing out and then handing over to them two free car companies.
It has also been the case with taxpayer subsidies to Enron, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, General Motors and Chrysler, Wall Street -- and even Greece! Washington bailouts and subsidies don’t make industries stronger. They pick winners and losers, create unintended consequences for American workers, and often end in expensive failures.
The push to reauthorize and increase the Export/Import Bank is the latest example.
Ex-Im, as it is known, is a federal program that gives politically appointed executives power to lend mainly to foreign companies that buy American products and services. Started decades ago with a lending cap of $5 million, like all federal programs its grown over time and now has a taxpayer subsidized $100 billion cap. Senate Democrats want to further expand it by 40% to $140 billion. Ex-Im also has specific mandates to subsidize politically-popular causes like green energy.
What’s wrong with this? In principle, it’s wrong because all companies – foreign and domestic – should compete on a level playing field, so that success goes to those companies who offer the best products and services at the lowest prices.
In free market finance, we all benefit as businesses compete for investment that follows those with the best innovations, highest quality, at a price buyers are willing to pay.
Not so with government-run finance where funding decisions are made more often based on politics instead of economics. That’s why corporate welfare is so inefficient.
It was just this kind of political mischief that spurred banks to make subprime mortgage loans and led General Motors to make an unpopular, expensive, flammable electric car – all the while putting taxpayers on the hook for the losses.
It also explains why Ex-Im has financed over $10 million in loans benefitting Solyndra before it went bankrupt and even financed over $600 million in loans to Enron projects before Ken Lay went to prison. In 2010, General Electric made $150 billion in profit, paid no corporate taxes but was helped by over $1 billion in Ex-Im loans that same year. Ex-Im even made loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a solar company to sell solar panels -- to itself.
But more importantly, this is why corporate welfare is so unfair. For every company that benefits, there are a dozen competitors who suddenly find themselves at a disadvantage in the marketplace.
It’s no surprise then that Ex-Im’s loans have come under increased scrutiny for hurting thousands of jobs in the American airline industry. In fact, Ex-Im is required by Congress to conduct reviews on how their loans to foreign companies could endanger American jobs, but in over 90% of the loans, these reviews are never performed.
And what’s worse, Washington sends competitors the signal that the easiest way to get ahead isn’t to make better companies, but to lobby Congress for special taxpayer benefits.
And so a vicious cycle emerges. Washington's attempt to centrally manage the economy only transfers wealth from taxpayers to corporations, it takes those corporations’ eye off the ball, dulling our economy’s competitive edge and slowly making America less and less competitive in the increasingly competitive global market.
Is it fair that foreign countries subsidize their companies? No. But, America didn’t become the world’s strongest economy by trying to out-socialize Europe, and we won’t win the future by picking winners and losers with taxpayer dollars. The American way to address subsidized foreign companies is to beat them in the free market.
If foreign competitors can’t get by without subsidies, it means they can’t compete with our best. And if we’ve reached the point where America admits that our best can’t beat theirs, all the subsidies in the world won’t save us.
Congress should stop the corporate welfare gimmicks and get serious about our real problems. America now has an unsustainable $15 trillion debt and soon the developed world’s highest corporate tax rate, economic anchors dragging our economy down that cannot be remedied by taxpayer subsidies for a few industries. If the President and Democrats in Congress really want to help American companies to compete globally, they’ll help Republicans reform the tax code, reduce burdensome regulations, and repeal Obamacare that is crippling businesses and will bankrupt our nation.
In a free market, all businesses are equal, and everybody wins. In a crony capitalist market, some businesses are more equal than others, and before long, everyone loses.
Jim DeMint is a Republican U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/oped/2012/03/export-competitiveness-import-cronyism-case-against-ex-im/389271?utm_source=Special%20DeMint%20-%2003/20/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest
There are two kinds of companies who receive corporate welfare from Washington: successful businesses that don’t need it, and unsuccessful companies that don’t deserve it.
Everything else you hear from politicians when corporate welfare comes up – rhetoric about public-private partnerships, about matching Europe’s subsidies of foreign competitors – is a mere distraction from the truth: They are mortgaging our children’s and grandchildren’s future to subsidize the politically connected.
This was the case with Solyndra, the infamously bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer who turned close political ties to the Obama Administration into more than $500 million in sweetheart loan guarantees.
It was the case with the auto bailouts, in which President Obama repaid the massive contributions union bosses made to his 2008 campaign by bailing out and then handing over to them two free car companies.
It has also been the case with taxpayer subsidies to Enron, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, General Motors and Chrysler, Wall Street -- and even Greece! Washington bailouts and subsidies don’t make industries stronger. They pick winners and losers, create unintended consequences for American workers, and often end in expensive failures.
The push to reauthorize and increase the Export/Import Bank is the latest example.
Ex-Im, as it is known, is a federal program that gives politically appointed executives power to lend mainly to foreign companies that buy American products and services. Started decades ago with a lending cap of $5 million, like all federal programs its grown over time and now has a taxpayer subsidized $100 billion cap. Senate Democrats want to further expand it by 40% to $140 billion. Ex-Im also has specific mandates to subsidize politically-popular causes like green energy.
What’s wrong with this? In principle, it’s wrong because all companies – foreign and domestic – should compete on a level playing field, so that success goes to those companies who offer the best products and services at the lowest prices.
In free market finance, we all benefit as businesses compete for investment that follows those with the best innovations, highest quality, at a price buyers are willing to pay.
Not so with government-run finance where funding decisions are made more often based on politics instead of economics. That’s why corporate welfare is so inefficient.
It was just this kind of political mischief that spurred banks to make subprime mortgage loans and led General Motors to make an unpopular, expensive, flammable electric car – all the while putting taxpayers on the hook for the losses.
It also explains why Ex-Im has financed over $10 million in loans benefitting Solyndra before it went bankrupt and even financed over $600 million in loans to Enron projects before Ken Lay went to prison. In 2010, General Electric made $150 billion in profit, paid no corporate taxes but was helped by over $1 billion in Ex-Im loans that same year. Ex-Im even made loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a solar company to sell solar panels -- to itself.
But more importantly, this is why corporate welfare is so unfair. For every company that benefits, there are a dozen competitors who suddenly find themselves at a disadvantage in the marketplace.
It’s no surprise then that Ex-Im’s loans have come under increased scrutiny for hurting thousands of jobs in the American airline industry. In fact, Ex-Im is required by Congress to conduct reviews on how their loans to foreign companies could endanger American jobs, but in over 90% of the loans, these reviews are never performed.
And what’s worse, Washington sends competitors the signal that the easiest way to get ahead isn’t to make better companies, but to lobby Congress for special taxpayer benefits.
And so a vicious cycle emerges. Washington's attempt to centrally manage the economy only transfers wealth from taxpayers to corporations, it takes those corporations’ eye off the ball, dulling our economy’s competitive edge and slowly making America less and less competitive in the increasingly competitive global market.
Is it fair that foreign countries subsidize their companies? No. But, America didn’t become the world’s strongest economy by trying to out-socialize Europe, and we won’t win the future by picking winners and losers with taxpayer dollars. The American way to address subsidized foreign companies is to beat them in the free market.
If foreign competitors can’t get by without subsidies, it means they can’t compete with our best. And if we’ve reached the point where America admits that our best can’t beat theirs, all the subsidies in the world won’t save us.
Congress should stop the corporate welfare gimmicks and get serious about our real problems. America now has an unsustainable $15 trillion debt and soon the developed world’s highest corporate tax rate, economic anchors dragging our economy down that cannot be remedied by taxpayer subsidies for a few industries. If the President and Democrats in Congress really want to help American companies to compete globally, they’ll help Republicans reform the tax code, reduce burdensome regulations, and repeal Obamacare that is crippling businesses and will bankrupt our nation.
In a free market, all businesses are equal, and everybody wins. In a crony capitalist market, some businesses are more equal than others, and before long, everyone loses.
Jim DeMint is a Republican U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/oped/2012/03/export-competitiveness-import-cronyism-case-against-ex-im/389271?utm_source=Special%20DeMint%20-%2003/20/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest
Sunday, February 19, 2012
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:
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:
Proposes a net increase over current spending projections
Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
spending
no plan to reduce the debt
Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion
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
Visit http://www.roadtorepeal.com/ to get info on the TPP rally in DC on 3/24!!!
Weekly Wrap Up – provided by the RSC
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.
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.
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”
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:
Proposes a net increase over current spending projections
- Taxes Too Much:
Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
spending
- Borrows Too Much:
no plan to reduce the debt
Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion
- Budget Gimmicks & Broken Promises
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.
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
- 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!
- 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/.
- 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.
- 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.
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:
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.)
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.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Washington Examiner, Tim Carney: Big banks binge on Bush-Obama 'venture socialism'
Largely out of the media spotlight, the federal government operates a network of financial subsidy programs that benefit big banks by putting taxpayer money at risk. And President Obama, that self-styled populist scourge of Wall Street, is increasing this racket of private profit and public risk that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) aptly dubbed "venture socialism."
In its latest act of venture socialism, the Obama administration has offered a novel taxpayer backstop to General Electric, the multinational industrial conglomerate that is famously close to this administration, and that spends more on federal lobbying than any other company. The government accessory in this instance is the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal agency that finances U.S. exports at taxpayer risk.
Ex-Im exists to subsidize U.S. businesses, with most of the subsidy dollars facilitating Boeing sales. Other industrial titans like GE, Bechtel, and General Dynamics devour most of the rest of the Ex-Im subsidy pie. But manufacturers aren't the only beneficiaries of this little-known federal agency -- banks profit from it, too. For instance, when Ex-Im recently approved $1 billion in financing to subsidize Pemex, Mexico's government-owned oil company, 3M and other U.S. exporters of oil-field equipment benefited, but so did some big banks. Bank of America and JP Morgan financed these sales, and so if Pemex defaults, it's these megabanks the U.S. taxpayer will be bailing out.
Now Obama has created a new Ex-Im subsidy for banks. The name is a mouthful: "The Supply-Chain Finance Guarantee Program."
CONTINUE READING:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/big-banks-binge-bush-obama-venture-socialism
In its latest act of venture socialism, the Obama administration has offered a novel taxpayer backstop to General Electric, the multinational industrial conglomerate that is famously close to this administration, and that spends more on federal lobbying than any other company. The government accessory in this instance is the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal agency that finances U.S. exports at taxpayer risk.
Ex-Im exists to subsidize U.S. businesses, with most of the subsidy dollars facilitating Boeing sales. Other industrial titans like GE, Bechtel, and General Dynamics devour most of the rest of the Ex-Im subsidy pie. But manufacturers aren't the only beneficiaries of this little-known federal agency -- banks profit from it, too. For instance, when Ex-Im recently approved $1 billion in financing to subsidize Pemex, Mexico's government-owned oil company, 3M and other U.S. exporters of oil-field equipment benefited, but so did some big banks. Bank of America and JP Morgan financed these sales, and so if Pemex defaults, it's these megabanks the U.S. taxpayer will be bailing out.
Now Obama has created a new Ex-Im subsidy for banks. The name is a mouthful: "The Supply-Chain Finance Guarantee Program."
CONTINUE READING:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/big-banks-binge-bush-obama-venture-socialism
Monday, September 5, 2011
Carlton's Corner: This Should Make Your Blood Boil.....
I'm a fanatic ( one who won't change his/her mind and won't shut up).
Pegs me exactly. I admit it. I am indeed a fanatic when drawn into issues concerning the FR (Federal Reserve)
Having expressed my views on this criminal organization more then once to my email addressees, we are finally beginning to detect some signs that others, with at least a bit of clout, may finally be realizing and homing in on the source of the grandest financial 'fleece job' ever recorded in the annuls of our history.
But what should really nag all of us are the questions--why has it taken so long for the masses to understand the magnitude of this perpetual 'fleece job"--if indeed they understand , or even care, now? And what effect will this 'audit' have on the visibility of the organization-if any?
Remember as you read the following article---its about audting one of the most corrupt institutions in the world--one that is not a government institution at all, but is composed of FR Banks which are nothing more than private credit monopolies,domestic swindlers, rich and predatory money lenders which prey on the people of America for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers---Repeating: " their foreign customers"
In other words, these FR Banks are naught more than agents of the foreign central banks.
Making the FR little more than an out-of-control credit monopoly --an extremely extensive, arrogant and dangerous one at that!
Do yourselves a great service by learning all you can about this dandy institution that has managed to survive and flourish at the expense of you and I and will, if not curbed, play a prime role in finally destroying the economy of this country.
So read and make up your own mind. Fanatics needed badly!
Carlton
The first ever GAO audit of the Fedral Reserve was carried out in the past few months due to the Ron Paul, Alan Grayson Amendment to the Dodd-Frank bill, which passed last year. Jim DeMint, a Republican Senator, and Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator, led the charge for a Federal Reserve audit in the Senate, but watered down the original language of the house bill (HR1207), so that a complete audit would not be carried out. Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, and various other bankers vehemently opposed the audit and lied to Congress about the effects an audit would have on markets. Nevertheless, the results of the first audit in the Federal Reserve’s nearly 100 year history were posted on Senator Sander’s webpage earlier this morning.
What was revealed in the audit was startling: http://iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_f61ac908-cddb-11e0-bce9-001cc4c03286.html?mode=print
$16,000,000,000,000.00 (TRILLION) had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the world’s banks, corporations, and governments. The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs. To place $16 trillion into perspective, remember that GDP of the United States is only $14.12 trillion. The entire national debt of the United States government spanning its 200+ year history is only $14.5 trillion.
The budget that is being debated so heavily in Congress and the Senate is only $3.5 trillion. Take all of the outrage and debate over the $1.5 trillion deficit into consideration, and swallow this Red pill: There was no debate about whether $16,000,000,000,000 would be given to failing banks and failing corporations around the world.
In late 2008, the TARP Bailout bill was passed and loans of $800 billion were given to failing banks and companies. That was a blatant lie considering the fact that Goldman Sachs alone received 814 billion dollars. As is turns out, the Federal Reserve donated $2.5 trillion to Citigroup, while Morgan Stanley received $2.04 trillion. The Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank, a German bank, split about a trillion and numerous other banks received hefty chunks of the $16trillion. ****
When you have conservative Republican stalwarts like Jim DeMint(R-SC) and Ron Paul(R-TX) as well as self identified Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders all fighting against the Federal Reserve, you know that it is no longer an issue of Right versus Left. When you have every single member of the Republican Party in Congress and progressive Congressmen like Dennis Kucinich sponsoring a bill to audit the Federal Reserve, you realize that the Federal Reserve is an entity onto itself, which has no oversight and no accountability.
Americans should be swelled with anger and outrage at the abysmal state of affairs when an unelected group of bankers can create money out of thin air and give it out to megabanks and supercorporations like Halloween candy. The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows:
Citigroup: $2.5 trillion($2,500,000,000,000)
Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)
Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)
Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion* ($868,000,000,000)
Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)
Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)
JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)
Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)
UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)
Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)
Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)
Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)
BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)
Pegs me exactly. I admit it. I am indeed a fanatic when drawn into issues concerning the FR (Federal Reserve)
Having expressed my views on this criminal organization more then once to my email addressees, we are finally beginning to detect some signs that others, with at least a bit of clout, may finally be realizing and homing in on the source of the grandest financial 'fleece job' ever recorded in the annuls of our history.
But what should really nag all of us are the questions--why has it taken so long for the masses to understand the magnitude of this perpetual 'fleece job"--if indeed they understand , or even care, now? And what effect will this 'audit' have on the visibility of the organization-if any?
Remember as you read the following article---its about audting one of the most corrupt institutions in the world--one that is not a government institution at all, but is composed of FR Banks which are nothing more than private credit monopolies,domestic swindlers, rich and predatory money lenders which prey on the people of America for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers---Repeating: " their foreign customers"
In other words, these FR Banks are naught more than agents of the foreign central banks.
Making the FR little more than an out-of-control credit monopoly --an extremely extensive, arrogant and dangerous one at that!
Do yourselves a great service by learning all you can about this dandy institution that has managed to survive and flourish at the expense of you and I and will, if not curbed, play a prime role in finally destroying the economy of this country.
So read and make up your own mind. Fanatics needed badly!
Carlton
The first ever GAO audit of the Fedral Reserve was carried out in the past few months due to the Ron Paul, Alan Grayson Amendment to the Dodd-Frank bill, which passed last year. Jim DeMint, a Republican Senator, and Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator, led the charge for a Federal Reserve audit in the Senate, but watered down the original language of the house bill (HR1207), so that a complete audit would not be carried out. Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, and various other bankers vehemently opposed the audit and lied to Congress about the effects an audit would have on markets. Nevertheless, the results of the first audit in the Federal Reserve’s nearly 100 year history were posted on Senator Sander’s webpage earlier this morning.
What was revealed in the audit was startling: http://iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_f61ac908-cddb-11e0-bce9-001cc4c03286.html?mode=print
$16,000,000,000,000.00 (TRILLION) had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the world’s banks, corporations, and governments. The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs. To place $16 trillion into perspective, remember that GDP of the United States is only $14.12 trillion. The entire national debt of the United States government spanning its 200+ year history is only $14.5 trillion.
The budget that is being debated so heavily in Congress and the Senate is only $3.5 trillion. Take all of the outrage and debate over the $1.5 trillion deficit into consideration, and swallow this Red pill: There was no debate about whether $16,000,000,000,000 would be given to failing banks and failing corporations around the world.
In late 2008, the TARP Bailout bill was passed and loans of $800 billion were given to failing banks and companies. That was a blatant lie considering the fact that Goldman Sachs alone received 814 billion dollars. As is turns out, the Federal Reserve donated $2.5 trillion to Citigroup, while Morgan Stanley received $2.04 trillion. The Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank, a German bank, split about a trillion and numerous other banks received hefty chunks of the $16trillion. ****
When you have conservative Republican stalwarts like Jim DeMint(R-SC) and Ron Paul(R-TX) as well as self identified Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders all fighting against the Federal Reserve, you know that it is no longer an issue of Right versus Left. When you have every single member of the Republican Party in Congress and progressive Congressmen like Dennis Kucinich sponsoring a bill to audit the Federal Reserve, you realize that the Federal Reserve is an entity onto itself, which has no oversight and no accountability.
Americans should be swelled with anger and outrage at the abysmal state of affairs when an unelected group of bankers can create money out of thin air and give it out to megabanks and supercorporations like Halloween candy. The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows:
Citigroup: $2.5 trillion($2,500,000,000,000)
Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)
Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)
Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion* ($868,000,000,000)
Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)
Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)
JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)
Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)
UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)
Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)
Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)
Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)
BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Newest Labor War: Union, Feds Attack Boeing
Did the NLRB bite off more Carolina BBQ than it can chew?
The National Labor Relations Board (OBAMA SUPPORTING UNIONS) wants to prevent Boeing, a private company, from building its new 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, a right to work state.
If the NLRB thought this would be an easy task, it was wrong, and also insane. Sen. Jim DeMint is angry. The move, he says, is "nothing more than a political favor for the unions who are supporting President Obama's reelection campaign." DeMint is going to "use every tool at my disposal to stop the president from carrying out this malicious act." Hell, even the South's most delicate senator is upset. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the NLRB's scheme is "one of the worst cases of unelected bureaucrats doing the bidding of special interest groups that I've ever seen." The bolt munchers at the International Association of Machinists District 571, meanwhile, are hailing this as "a victory for all American workers." Oh, except for the workers in South Carolina, where the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/04/22/boeing_nrlb_unions_labor_government_white_house_obama_administration_south_carolina_109635.html
The National Labor Relations Board (OBAMA SUPPORTING UNIONS) wants to prevent Boeing, a private company, from building its new 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, a right to work state.
If the NLRB thought this would be an easy task, it was wrong, and also insane. Sen. Jim DeMint is angry. The move, he says, is "nothing more than a political favor for the unions who are supporting President Obama's reelection campaign." DeMint is going to "use every tool at my disposal to stop the president from carrying out this malicious act." Hell, even the South's most delicate senator is upset. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the NLRB's scheme is "one of the worst cases of unelected bureaucrats doing the bidding of special interest groups that I've ever seen." The bolt munchers at the International Association of Machinists District 571, meanwhile, are hailing this as "a victory for all American workers." Oh, except for the workers in South Carolina, where the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/04/22/boeing_nrlb_unions_labor_government_white_house_obama_administration_south_carolina_109635.html
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Mitch McConnell fights GOP earmark ban
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is maneuvering behind the scenes to defeat a conservative plan aimed at restricting earmarks, setting up a high-stakes showdown that pits the GOP leader and his “Old Bull” allies against Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and a new breed of conservative senators.
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44888.html
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44888.html
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