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POPSPork Report - 28 Oct 09 Junket watch: Speaking at a beachfront spa and resort, Federal Reserve Chairman says Americans need to save more and the country must “substantially reduce federal deficits”
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POPSUnderstanding Government Subsidies There are many people who will rally behind "socialized" oil, but read on: Hidden Oil Subsidies The real price of gasoline is what people actually pay for it, not just what they pay for it at the pump. That might seem subtle, but there's a big difference. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-thank, did a study on the subject. What they found is simply mind-boggling. They calculated that the US spent between $30 to $60 billion (with a 'b') a year safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East during the 1990s, even though its imports from that region totaled only about $10 billion a year during that period. A more comprehensive study that includes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other oil protection services (the coast guard is clearing shipping lanes and doing navigational support to oil tankers, etc) shows that actual subsidies to Big Oil are between $78 to $158 billion (again, with a 'b') per year.
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POPSBLM Plans to "Dump" Wild Horses How the Bureau of Land Management is breaking the law and charging tax payers for it. This clip is only a fraction of the shocking info on this page.
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POPSDemocratic House Leaders Conceal the Fact That Their Health Bill Covers Illegal Aliens
Likewise, there are no requirements that a government agency verify eligibility, whether through the SAVE system or otherwise. (FAIR's explanation of the SAVE System). Accordingly, without these important safeguards, illegal aliens would probably receive this subsidy. The bill does limit eligibility to individuals who are "lawfully present in a State in the United States," but that language would be ineffective to prevent handouts to illegal aliens. (Sec. 242(a)(1)). Under U.S. immigration law, someone's status as an illegal alien is not determined by lawful presence in a State. As a result, this language will have no effect in preventing illegal aliens from receiving the credit. Critics suggest that if the intent of the bill is to preclude illegal aliens from receiving this subsidy, the current language is woefully inadequate and would have to be dramatically revised. At the same time as Congress is considering burdening taxpayers with the cost of health care . . .
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POPSWho pays for abortions? If persons opposed to abortion do not want their dollars to subsidize abortion under the new health care plan, then they should consider how their money may currently be subsidizing abortions given that 45% to 80% of women currently have health care coverage which includes abortions.
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POPS Europe to Hunt More Whales Than Japan
An independent economic report commissioned by conservation groups WWF and WDCS released today in advance of the International whaling commission (IWC) summit in Madeira, concludes that whaling is no longer economically viable. Japan, it claimed, has spent $164m (£100m) backing its whaling industry since 1988, and Norwegian subsidies equal almost half of the gross value of all whale-meat landings. Sales of whale meat, blubber, and other whale products in Japan "have made financial losses for most of the last 20 years", it said. The research says that killing more whales will only hurt the growing whale-watching industry, and damage the international image of Norway and Japan. "Norway and Japan are hurting tourism, a potential growth industry in both countries in order to spend millions of dollars obtaining whale meat, the sale of which makes no profit. How much longer are they going to keep wasting their taxpayer's money?" said a spokeswoman for WWF.
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POPS EDF calls for support for nuclear industry Already blackmailing the taxpayer for what amounts to be a blank cheque! There is no doubt that the new generation will cost far more than projected, just as in Finland. A problem is that Gordon Brown has gone and given all the money to the banks. Britain will have to get serious when it faces the inevitable energy gap in two or three years time.
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POPSAl Gore Enrichment Act
other businesses that stand to profit from greenhouse gas regulation? If you have not contributed significant amounts of your own capital to these businesses, what, then, is your role in them? Are you a lobbyist? Are you the face of their public relations efforts? Is your job to run around scaring politicians and the public into enacting greenhouse gas regulation? 4. Is Kleiner-Perkins’ business plan to have you press for legislation and regulation favorable to its clients in order to make them more attractive and available for sale to the public, at which time Kleiner-Perkins would cash out, leaving the public invested in not-ready-for-prime-time companies that have dubious financial prospects and that are dependent on taxpayer subsidies? 5. Your co-founder with Generation Investment Management is former Goldman Sachs partner David Blood. Goldman Sachs is lobbying for global warming legislation and is a part owner of the Chicago Climate Exchange, where carbon credits from cap
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POPSSubsidizing Bad Decisions By Thomas Sowell and as if the people facing foreclosures are the only people that matter. What if the foreclosures are not stopped? Will millions of homes just sit empty? Or will new people move into those homes, now selling for lower prices-- prices perhaps more within the means of the new occupants? The same politicians who have been talking about a need for "affordable housing" for years are now suddenly alarmed that home prices are falling. How can housing become more affordable unless prices fall? The political meaning of "affordable housing" is housing that is made more affordable by politicians intervening to create government subsidies, rent control or other gimmicks for which politicians can take credit. Affordable housing produced by market forces provides no benefit to politicians and has no attraction for them. Study after study, not only here but in other countries, show that the most affordable housing is where there has been the least . . .
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POPSObama Ready for Budget Fight He went on: "In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. "My message to them is this: So am I." He should've added, "You want a piece of me? Cuz here I am!" but he didn't. I suppose the language is tough enough for government. Full remarks here .
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POPSGovernment Policy Still Has It Backwards First, the government should buy up a portion of mortgages up to roughly the foreclosure value of a home (say 40% of the purchase price) and provide homeowners with an ultra-low rate on this fully collateralized loan portion of 3% to 3.5%, interest-only for five years. I favor applying this program not just to distressed loans but to the estimated 50% of mortgages that are unable to refinance because of insufficient equity. First, the government should buy up a portion of mortgages up to roughly the foreclosure value of a home (say 40% of the purchase price) and provide homeowners with an ultra-low rate on this fully collateralized loan portion of 3% to 3.5%, interest-only for five years. I favor applying this program not just to distressed loans but to the estimated 50% of mortgages that are unable to refinance because of insufficient equity. Full article: http://www.rgemonitor.com/globalmacro-monitor/255413/government_policy_is_still_backwards
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POPSThe Next Bailout - Newspapers The one thing that is fun is watching these self-inflated egotists go down in flames. By definition, if they are producing something that nobody will pay for - its not worth anything. And certainly not my tax money.
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POPSIn 2002 (!!!!) An Attempt to Save The Coming Market Crisis Was Made Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors misled by foolish government interference in the market. I therefore hope my colleagues will stand up for American taxpayers and investors by cosponsoring the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act.
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POPSPelosi: Oil Bill Will Have Ethics Clause: Becomes A Parody Of Herself Mrs. Pelosi released preliminary details of a massive energy bill that includes a limited expansion of offshore drilling - timing the speaker said was simply a coincidence. The measure is expected to be introduced early next week. "That had nothing to do with when we released our bill," she said. "That's just because we're back now" after Congress' five-week summer break. "The oil and gas industry already benefits from taxpayer-funded subsidies, so the question is: how much has the scandal cost us in lost revenue?" The scandal is a setback for the Bush administration and Capitol Hill Republicans, who for months have been pushing to increase domestic oil drilling in response to skyrocketing gasoline prices at the pump. Republicans denied the scandal would deflate their party's push to increase drilling, saying that the alleged abuses, though serious, are isolated cases and shouldn't derail the nation's quest for more domestically produced oil.
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POPSCorporate Welfare End the corporate welfare, close up the loopholes, subsidies, and the offshore enabling, and it might be feasible to lower corporate taxes to between 15 and 25 percent, on the record. Not that most don't pay this percent now...
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POPSWe Need to Protect More Land, Not Less There are few better investments of taxpayer dollars than the land reserve project, which has protected millions of acres of sensitive lands nationwide and significantly reduced soil erosion, all the while costing taxpayers about one tenth as much as traditional farm subsidies. And unlike most farm subsidies — which concentrate wealth in the hands of the wealthy — this program spreads the money around and creates more economic value than it costs.
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POPSMORE "Splash and Dash" Scam On U.S.Taxpayers - Manning Feraci, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board : “Ultimately when you dig down it gets to the point that you would have to have access to IRS information…Taxpayer information is confidential, so we can’t have access to it…”
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POPSDon't Tell Obama, McCain: Conventions Taking In Corporate Cash are all donors to the Aug. 25-28 Democratic convention in Denver. Lobbyists for those groups can get credentials to both conventions or related events, allowing them to mingle with lawmakers acting on legislation important to them. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the world's largest grain processor, benefited from and lobbied on a just-passed legislation renewing farm programs for five years, a bill McCain criticized. ADM is supporting the Sept. 1-4 Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. AT&T and Visa are also among the 23 companies that are helping to fund both conventions, according to the host committee's Web sites. Lobbying expert Rogan Kersh, said the corporate money could muffle the candidates' campaigns against so-called special interests. In a campaign devoted to change, both parties' much-proclaimed reform candidates will have their halos tarnished by the corporate largesse.''
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POPSHarpooned: Greenpeace exposes scandal at heart of whaling While the scandal of stolen whalemeat is the most shocking, it's not the only revelation to come from this investigation. Further allegations from our informants that require investigation include: * Throwing tons of whale meat overboard daily because they did not have processing capacity for the increased quotas * Cancerous tumors being found and cut out of whales and the remaining meat processed for public sale * Targeted hunts to ensure maximum catch, not random "sampling" as required by the research permits * Harsh working conditions because of the increased workload from the increased quotas Download the full report
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POPSPelosi To President Bush On Gas Prices Your support is the more critical as your Administration has failed to persuade OPEC to increase their oil production, despite your influence with OPEC nations. The New Direction Congress is providing forward-looking leadership that will fuel America’s energy future, save Americans’ money, create good jobs, improve our national security, and preserve our planet for our children. This critical issue needs Presidential leadership and I urge you to please join us to address the skyrocketing price at the pump. best regards, NANCY PELOSI House GOP challenges Pelosi for gas price plan House Republican leaders on Tuesday challenged Nancy Pelosi to release a plan to lower gas prices that they say Democrats touted when they were in the minority. (Press release dated April 24, 2006, Pelosi said, “Democrats have a commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices.....) http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-gop-challenges-pelosi-for-gas-price-plan-2008-04-22.html
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POPSSTOP SECRET $15 BILLION ANTI-ENERGY BILL FROM PASSING The Senate and House have passed separate bills on energy filled with government mandates and taxes that threaten to send us back to the disastrous Jimmy Carter era of energy shortages and gas lines. Now the Liberal leaders of Congress want to meet in secret to devise one bill that is sure to take the worst sections of each and ram it through Congress without debate. October 24th article, Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal pointed out that there's a glut of ethanol resulting in falling prices while the cost of production skyrockets. He points out that even $90 per barrel oil has not resulted in ethanol success without massive subsidies. Government intervention like this always produces special interest winners while the taxpayer foots the bill. YOU CAN HELP DEFEAT THIS LEGISLATION! http://capwiz.com/acu/issues/alert/?alertid=10481861
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POPS Democrats Energy Solution Is A Big Problem If you see an “energy” bill loaded up with taxes on energy that works, taxpayer subsidies for energy that doesn’t work, and mandates for smaller and smaller cars and trucks, then you can be sure that you have lost and the special interests have won.Higher energy taxes means you will pay more at the pump and more on your utility bills . You will also pay for the subsidies several times. First, with each paycheck when taxes are withheld. Second, you’ll pay once again at the pump and on your utilities bills because the alternative fuels Pelosi wants to mandate are more expensive and less efficient. And third, you’ll pay at the grocery store and the mall as you pay more for other goods whose prices have been driven up by government energy mandates. We see this now with corn and products that use corn.
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POPSNo fairness for PBS Strange how democrats want to 'balance' free speech in the private sector, but don't want the same when it comes to tax payer funded programing.
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POPSSubsidies still flow as Corn Farmers Prosper Hhhmmm, an African-American or Latino seeking public assistance is denigrated as a taxpayer's burden. A midwest Anglo republican voting farmer receiving public assistance......pure apple pie americana.
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