Priority spending during the Obama recession

[IM2]

When one studies HIV/AIDS no stone can be left unturned. So its plain stupid for anyone to complain about any funding that goes to stuy anything that could be a causal factor in the spread and transmission of HIV/AIDS.

End the stupidity moron.

[johnhp]

IM

he doesn't care; it is not about the truth for mornac.

[IM2]

John,

I forgot who I was dealing with.

[johnhp]

IM

You know how these fascists are.

[Mornac]

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Census totem dedication and celebrationJuneau Empire

JUNEAU - For the first time in history, the 2010 Census commissiond Sitka carver Tommy Joseph to design and carve a totem pole specifically for the Census. Since its completion this spring, the totem pole has traveled throughout many communities in Southeast Alaska during the census data collection process. The totem is currently on display at Goldbelt's Mt. Roberts Tramway in Juneau.

A celebration and dedication will be held as the totem begins its journey to its new home at the Census Bureau's headquarters near Washington, D.C. All are invited to attend the celebration beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 2 at the Mount Roberts Tramway. Meet the artist, enjoy traditional songs and dances performed by the Children of All Nations, and join the event with other special guests.


http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/080110/nei_689270156.shtml

[Mornac]

GOP Report Points to Stimulus Money Gone Awry
03 Aug 2010
 
Two Republican senators have conducted an exhaustive survey of the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus spending and found that some of the spending didn’t create jobs — it actually led to job losses.

Call it the federal law of unintended consequences.

All in all, Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) scrutinized 100 projects, finding that some eliminated jobs, and others were simply questionable expenditures of money.

The report, obtained in advance by CNBC, spotlights everything from federal stimulus money that went to study the effects of cocaine on monkeys to dollars that went to construction projects that blocked access to local businesses — which laid off employees as a result.

The findings come despite a hearty endorsement of the federal stimulus just a few days ago in another report, this one by the economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi. The duo found that the effects of the federal stimulus were “very substantial,” raising 2010 real GDP by about 3.4 percent, holding unemployment about 1.5 percentage points lower and boosting US payrolls by almost 2.7 million jobs.

Not surprisingly, the Obama administration prefers Blinder and Zandi’s take to that of Coburn and McCain.

“We made clear from the start that we would subject every dollar of Recovery Act spending to the highest standards, and we’ve already proactively spotted and killed hundreds of dubious Recovery Act projects,” said Liz Oxhorn, a White House spokeswoman for the federal stimulus effort. “We'll look into each of their claims and take action if any have merit, but with more than 70,000 Recovery Act projects underway, any misguided project is just a small fraction of tens of thousands coast to coast that are rebuilding America and putting people to work.”

Three small business owners across the country tell the tale of how stimulus spending has upset their livelihoods.

Todd McKittrick, owner of Archery Bistro in Washington State’s Normandy Park, said he’s down to about half the staff he began with as the result of a stimulus funded road construction project he said is blocking access to his property.

“We used to have a good lunch business, but with the construction going on during the day, it actually killed our lunch business,” McKittrick told CNBC. “We’ve also shut down two more days to help stop the bleeding of the cost of the construction.”

According to the Coburn-McCain report, the project that’s causing problems for Archery Bistro came after the U.S. Department of Transportation provided the city of Normandy Park, Washington, with $3.8 million to spruce up eight blocks of the town’s 1st Avenue with the addition of “bike lanes, street lights, landscaping and a sidewalk.”

The construction, which began in the summer of 2009, is expected to be complete by late August.

It’s a similar story in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, where a Jane Bodi, owner of Bodi’s Bake Shop, says she’s had trouble selling her confections ever since a construction project blocked access to her business.

“I've had to cut my help back. I've had girls on usually in the afternoon hours from 11 ‘til 8 (o'clock), and now they leave by 4 o' clock,” Bodi told CNBC. “And some girls we're not even using to help us out because there just isn't the hours or the income to keep paying them.”

And in Lancaster, Virginia, restaurateur Ron Edwards found that the dock in front of his waterfront Upper Deck restaurant was suddenly mired in a sandbar – the result, he said, of a stimulus-funded Army Corps of Engineers dredging project gone awry. Now, boat traffic to his eatery, located at the confluence of Greenvale Creek and the Rappahannock River in Virginia, is severely restricted.

The Army Corps of Engineers said that’s because of unusual storm activity. “After the material was placed in July 2009, a major Northeaster in November and persistent bad weather during the winter of 2009-2010 may have contributed to the recent shoaling patterns around Mr. Edwards' pier,” the Corps said in a statement.

As for those cocaine-snorting monkeys? The Coburn-McCain report found that the Department of Health and Human Services has sent $71,623 to researchers at Wake Forest University to see how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine.

Here are some other projects that the GOP senators called into question:

The U.S. Forest Service is spending more than $554,000 to replace windows at a visitors center for Mt. St. Helens that has been closed.

-The University of North Carolina at Charlotte received more than $750,000 to help develop a computerized choreography program that its creators believe could lead to a YouTube-like “Dance Tube” online application.

-The Port Authority of Allegheny County, PA, will spend $62 million extend the city’s light rail under the Allegheny River to the new Rivers Casino, as well as to its two professional sports arenas, PNC Park (home of the Pirates) and Heinz Field (home of the Steelers).

-The town of Boynton, Oklahoma was awarded nearly $90,000 to replace a quarter-mile stretch of sidewalk that was replaced only five years ago.

-The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut will get $54 million in rural development loans from the United States Department of Agriculture for a tribal government building that will also hold a practice facility for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun women’s professional basketball team.

-Researchers at Wake Forest University have received nearly $300,000 to study whether Integral Yoga “can be an effective method to reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in menopausal women.

-The National Science Foundation shelled out nearly $60,000 in stimulus dollars to study people’s perceptions of federal stimulus spending.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/38534982/

[Mornac]

Sheriff Taylor's health pitch sparks cardiac arrest
By CHARLES HURT

August 4, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Was it not enough for President Obama to saddle future Americans with billions of dollars in new health benefits and entitlements that they simply cannot afford?

He also had to go and corrupt one of America's most beloved figures of the last half-century. And stick you with the $700,000 bill.

Before Obama started pimping him out last week to sell the highly unpopular health-care law, actor Andy Griffith was about as all-American as you could get.

Grew up during the Great Depression.

Award-winning gospel singer.

As widower Sheriff Andy Taylor, he was thoughtful, big-hearted and always gently right.

As Matlock, he always won his cases.

Yet in a sick deal with the Obama administration, Griffith shatters his credibility, promising all roses with a health-care law that even Barney Fife could tell you is a disaster in the making.

"This year, like always, we'll have our guaranteed benefits," Griffith says in the gauzy ad, as if today's seniors are America's last generation.

"And with the new health-care law, more good things are coming. Free checkups, lower prescription costs. and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud."

Yeah, as if the real problem with today's economy is that people aren't paying enough in taxes and the government has too much money on its hands.

Guess it is good to know that at least Andy Griffith is still in Mayberry.

But the 59 percent of voters who want the law repealed live far from Mayberry, no matter what Griffith tries telling them.

And the most shocking thing about the fantasy ad?

You paid for it.

That's right. It is taxpayers who are coughing up the $700,000 to run the ad all over the country in a government campaign to sell its cockeyed health-care scheme.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/sheriff_taylor_health_pitch_sparks_IO4A3hqygAspuyCVuzzCNO

[Mornac]

Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation
Andrea Tantaros

August 5, 2010

Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.

But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing  summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.

Reports are calling the lodgings of  Obama's Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, "luxurious," "posh" and "a millionaires' playground." Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two.

To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.

Perhaps it could be that the Obamas, who seem to fancy themselves more along the lines of international celebrities than actual leaders, espouse a different view of sacrifice. When Michelle Obama accompanied her husband to Copenhagen along with best buddy Oprah Winfrey, she billed the trip - an ultimately unsuccessful bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago - as follows: "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the President to come for these few days, so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."

A quick jaunt to Denmark is a sacrifice? What portraits in courage!

The Obama modus operandi is becoming clear. From lavish trips to Spain to reportedly flying Bo, the President's Portuguese water dog, on a separate aircraft to vacation with them in Maine, to a date night in New York City that perhaps cost nearly $100,000, their idea of austerity is really just the lap of luxury, at least for ordinary folks.

Incredibly, the Obamas have long portrayed themselves as precisely such commoners. Just this month, Obama told ABC the First Couple is "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." And that "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."

If that's true, why not select a more appropriate destination like the California coast? The scenery is just as gorgeous as that of Spain, and instead of patronizing a foreign country they would be pumping money into an American economy that desperately needs it. Camp David wouldn't exactly be slumming it, either. A long weekend there would really send a message of responsibility, leadership and compassion. For a couple that has sharply criticized former President George W. Bush so widely, they could stand to follow his example for once and select a more low-key locale, as Bush regularly did in his Texas vacations.

Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette - the French queen who spent extravagantly on clothes and jewels without a thought for her subjects' plight - than an average mother of two. While she's spent her time in the White House telling parents they should relieve their chubby kids' dependency on sugar and stressing the importance of an organic veggie garden, hopping a jet to Europe to meet with Spanish royalty isn't the visual the White House probably wants to project. Perhaps they've forgotten the damning image of John Kerry, on the eve of the 2004 election, windsurfing off the coast of Nantucket?

I don't begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime - the First Family included. It's the extravagance of Michelle Obama's trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama's demonization of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders. Toning down the flash would humanize the Obamas and signify that they sympathize with the setbacks of the people they were elected to serve.

In January, President Obama insisted that "everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good. Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game."

If sacrifice is the precursor to change, what will the family that ran on change offer up? Elitist doublespeak won't cut it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/08/04/2010-08-04_material_girl_michelle_obama_is_a_modernday_marie_antoinette_on_a_glitzy_spanish.html#ixzz0vka65lxZ

[Mornac]

Spanish police close public beach for Michelle Obama's £250,000 Spanish holiday

By Mail Foreign Service
6th August 2010

Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends, which could easily cost U.S. taxpayers a staggering £50,000 a day.

The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette.

And her critics will be further annoyed when they learn that the president's wife had a Spanish beach closed off today so that she, her daughter and their entourage could go for a swim.

Spanish police cleared off a stretch of beach at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella after the Obamas had finished a busy day of sightseeing.

Police used palm trees and police tape to mark off the boundaries of a 100-yard expanse for the American delegation. On either side, onlookers gawked - and police occasionally stopped and searched sun lovers if they strayed too close to the private party.

It is unclear whether the police presence was paid for by Spain - or whether a nasty invoice could be landing in the lap of the American taxpayer.

The exact cost of the trip is unclear as Mrs Obama, 46, and her friends are footing personal expenses themselves - which is just as well.

For a start, they will be paying for the 60 rooms booked at the 129-room Hotel Villa Padierna. With basic rooms starting around £380 each, the nightly bill will be no less than £22,800.

Meals will also be picked up by the Obamas and friends.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo detailed the Obamas' dinner on their first night in Spain. The tapas menu for the delegation included sea bass tartare, strawberry gazpacho and sardines, followed by a main course of lobster with seaweed risotto.

The meal cost about £40 a head, according to El Mundo - which means a bill topping £1,600 would have hit the table if all 40 friends dined together.

She said: ‘Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette… than an average mother of two.’

She added: ‘I don't begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime - the First Family included.

‘It's the extravagance of Michelle Obama's trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama's demonisation of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders'

Mrs Obama, who has been accompanied by her youngest daughter, Saha, nine, spent yesterday in the historic city of Granada.

She visited the spectacular Alhambra Palace, the 16th century cathedral and the pretty Albaicin neighbourhood, famous for its narrow winding streets and small squares

A crowd of several hundred people shouted 'Obama!' and 'guapa!' (beautiful) as the Obamas entered the cathedral with a large security detail in tow.

The party also had time for ice cream in the main street Gran Via.

Mrs Obama later attended a flamenco performance by Juan Andres Maya where other members of the audience were delighted when she tried out some dance moves at the end.

Earlier in the week, Mrs Obama had strolled around the shop's of Marbella's old town with daughter Sasha in tow.

The First Lady was surrounded by burly Secret Service agents as hundreds of locals sought to catch a glimpse of her in the Costa del Sol resort.

Wearing black trousers, a black and white top and dark sunglasses, the 46-year-old walked through Marbella's cobbled streets, nipping into a number of shops before having dinner in an Andalusian restaurant.

Mrs Obama arrived by plane at Malaga airport yesterday/on Wednesday morning and was driven in a 14-car convoy to the five star Hotel Villa Padierna, where her entourage has reserved 60 of the 129 rooms.

She told owner Ricardo Arranz she had come to 'relax and unwind'.

The hotel is nestled in the hills overlooking Marbella, and at 6.30pm she and nine-year-old Sasha were driven to the historic centre for their shopping trip.

Locals and British expats and holidaymakers crammed the streets or leaned out from balconies to get the best shot of the First Lady on their cameras. Some even climbed orange trees to get a better look.

Mrs Obama bought two white Egyptian cotton dresses for 84 euros (70 pounds) from a shop called Blanc du Nil after asking shopkeeper Irene Aivar for advice on styles and sizes.

She then took a business card from another shop called Samira, which sells silverware and crafts, before heading to a restaurant for dinner at 8pm.

They had a reservation for 14 people at the Buenaventura Plaza restaurant, reportedly eating lobster with rice and oysters followed by a Spanish bread pudding called torrijas.

President Barack Obama, who turned 49 on Wednesday, is not expected to join them in Spain, and oldest daughter Malia, 12, is at a summer camp in the US.

Reports in Spain said Mr Obama telephoned his wife at the restaurant, and she sang him Happy Birthday down the phone.

The party enjoyed red wine with the main course and a local sweet white wine with dessert before retiring to the hotel at 10pm.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1300852/Spanish-police-close-public-beach-Michelle-Obamas-250k-Spanish-holiday.html#

[nraforlife]

they are thumbing their noses at the American People, just daring us to do something.

[IM2]

Fuck off racist pieces of shit. They are doing no more than any other president and wife has done.

[Velleity]

1. We're not in a recession and haven't been in a recession for a year now. So how do you come to continually refer "the Obama recession?"

2. Your "scandal" is fake.

The Fake Scandal Surrounding Michelle Obama's Spain Trip

Do you even care about the accuracy of your posts, or do you really think it's okay to spew recklessly as long as you're channeling "conservative" memes?

[IM2]

Andrew Breithbart is posting here now.

[Mornac]

1. We're not in a recession and haven't been in a recession for a year now.

--I guess your definition of recession is a bit different than everyone else’s.

So how do you come to continually refer "the Obama recession?"

--If I happen to be speaking about the Obama recession, I refer to it as “the Obama recession" so that everyone will know what I’m talking about. Clarity of terms has always been very important to me.

2. Your "scandal" is fake.

--I see you have the word “scandal” ensconced in quotation marks immediately after a second person possessive pronoun. Can you show me exactly where I used the term? Or is this just more wishful thinking gone awry on your part resulting in a libelous implication.

Do you even care about the accuracy of your posts, or do you really think it's okay to spew recklessly as long as you're channeling "conservative" memes?

--The first option: I care about the accuracy of my posts. That is why I am never successfully challenged in these parts.

[Velleity]

Most people define "recession" as 2 consecutive quarters of GDP decline.

According to this chart, and my understanding of our current condition, we're experiencing economic growth.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Temp/United-States-GDP-Growth-Rate-Chart-000002.png?0f3b0fc4-ae9c-4e63-ab51-76fd052f81a8

I would say that most people would agree that the economy isn't doing as well as we would like it to be doing, but that doesn't mean we're in a recession.