NYT ad alone cost $200,000 in taxpayer funds. Not a big deal?nm
Posted By: LVMT on 2009-01-01
In Reply to: Umm, folks? They will advertise either way. - Saying "thank you"...big deal.nm
z
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Will Bush tap the TARP funds............ sm
to bail out the car companies? Initially he had refused to do that, but he has been lobbying heavily for Congress to pass the auto bailout. Will be interesting to watch and see what he does. Would you consider it waffling on his previous stance or just following "plan B?"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98174992&ft=1&f=1001
O would never vote no on Katrina funds unless
Just for good measure, I am going to post the reasons I know that to be fact.
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/when-the-cameras-are-off-barack-obamas-hurricane-katrina-record/
1. Here is O's record on rebuilding after Hurriane Katrina
2. Sept. 2, 2005: Obama holds press conference urging Illinoisans to contribute to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
3. Sept. 5, 2005: Obama goes to Houston to visit evacuees with Presidents Clinton and Bush.
4. Sept. 7, 2005: Obama introduces bill to create a national emergency family locator system
5. Sept. 8, 2005: Obama introduces bill to create a National Emergency Volunteers Corps. Sept. 8, 2005: Obama co-sponsors the Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005 introduced by Senator Harry Reid
6. Sept. 8, 2005: Obama co-sponsors the Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005 introduced by Senator Russ Feingold
7. Sept. 12, 2005: Obama introduces legislation requiring states to create an emergency evacuation plan for society’s most vulnerable
8. Sept. 15, 2005: Obama issues public response to President Bush’s speech about Gulf Coast rebuilding.
9. Sept. 21, 2005: Obama co-sponsors bill to establish a Katrina commission to investigate response to the disaster introduced by Hillary Clinton
10. Sept. 21, 2005: Obama appears on NPR to discuss the role of poverty in Hurricane Katrina.
11. Sept. 22, 2005: Obama and Coburn’s Hurricane Katrina financial oversight bill unanimously passes Senate committee.
12. Sept. 22, 2005: Obama’s amendment requiring evacuation plans unanimously passes Senate committee.
13. Sept. 28, 2005: Obama and Coburn issue statement about the need for a Chief Financial Officer to oversee the financial mismanagement and suspicious contracts occurring in the reconstruction process
14. Sept. 29, 2005: Obama and Coburn investigate possible FEMA refusal of free cruise ship offer
15. Oct. 6, 2005: Obama and Coburn issue statement on FEMA Decision to re-bid Katrina contracts
16. Oct. 6, 2005: Obama co-sponsors Gulf Coast Infrastructure Redevelopment and Recovery Act of 2005.
17. Oct. 21, 2005: Obama releases statement decrying the extension of FEMA director, Michael “Brownie” Brown’s contract. Obama calls Brown’s contract extension, “unconscionable.”
18. Nov. 17, 2005: Obama and Coburn introduce legislation asking FEMA to immediately re-bid all Katrina reconstruction contracts.
19. Feb. 1, 2006: Obama gives Senate floor speech on his legislation to help children affected by Hurricane Katrina
20. Feb. 2, 2006: Obama introduces legislation to help low-income children affected by Hurricane Katrina
21. Feb. 23, 2006: Obama issues statement responding to a White House report on Hurricane Katrina. Obama noted that the top two recommendations that the report had for the federal government were initiatives he had been working on since immediately after the storm hit. Obama called the administration’s response “delinquent.”
22. May 2, 2006: Obama gives speech about no-bid contracts in Hurricane Katrina reconstruction
23. May 4, 2006: Obama’s legislation to end no-bid contracts for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction passed the Senate.
24. June 15, 2006: Obama and Coburn announce legislation to require amendment to create competitive bidding for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction for federal contracts over $500,000. Although it passed previously, the language was stripped in conference.
25. June 15, 2006: Obama releases podcast about his pending Katrina reconstruction legislation in the Senate.
26. June 16, 2006: Obama and Coburn get no-bid Hurricane Katrina reconstruction amendment into Department of Defense authorization bill.
27. July 14, 2006: Obama and Coburn’s legislation to end abuse of no-bid contracts passes senate as amendment to Department of Defense authorization bill.
28. August 11, 2006: Obama visits Xavier University in New Orleans to give Commencement address
29. August 14, 2006: Obama and Coburn ask FEMA to address ballooning no-bid contracts for Gulf Coast reconstruction
30. Sept. 29, 2006: Obama and Coburn legislation to prevent abuse of no-bid contracts in the wake of disaster passes Senate to be sent to President’s desk to become law.
31. Feb. 2007-Present: As Obama begins his Presidential campaign he references Katrina as a part of his stump speech as he travels around the country in his familiar line, “That we are not a country which preaches compassion and justice to others while we allow bodies to float down the streets of a major American city. That is not who we are.”
32. June 20, 2007: Obama co-sponsors Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007 introduced by Senator Chris Dodd.
33. July 27, 2007: Obama and colleagues get a measure in the Homeland Security bill that will investigate FEMA trailers that may contain the toxic chemical, formaldehyde.
34. Aug. 26, 2007: Obama outlines a detailed Hurricane Katrina recovery plan.
35. December 18, 2007: Obama calls on President Bush to protect affordable housing in New Orleans
36. February 16, 2008: Obama releases statement on toxic Gulf Coast trailers
Please explain, forego what funds? And
*become self-supportive by their own congregation members?*
well ending a useless war would give funds to other
maybe that's how he plans on funding it...doh!!!
Mayors seek bailout funds
The first of many?
McCain diverted money from campaign funds
Trailblazing refusal of public funds, record-breaking fundraising
That guy sure knows how to raise mountains of money. Small donors, big votes. Innovative and successful. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. T-minus 18 and counting.
taxpayer dollars?
what makes you think that everyone having an abortion is paying for it themselves?
A satisfied taxpayer........ sm
Tax Bill
Dear Internal Revenue Service:
Enclosed you will find my 2005 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes. Please note the attached article from the USA Today newspaper, dated 12 November, wherein you will see the Pentagon (Department of Defense) is paying $171.50 per hammer and NASA has paid $600.00 per toilet seat.
I am enclosing four (4) toilet seats (valued @ $2,400) and six (6) hammers valued @ $1,029), which I secured at Home Depot, bringing my total remittance to $3,429.00.
Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the "Presidential Election Fund," as noted on my return. You can do this inexpensively by sending them one (1) 1.5 " Phillips Head screw (see aforementioned article from USA Today newspaper detailing how H.U.D. pays $22.00 each for 1.5" Phillips Head Screws). One screw is enclosed for your convenience.
It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to paying it again next year.
Sincerely,
A Satisfied Taxpayer
You mean he might use taxpayer money to
Oh wait....hmmmmm
PBS is taxpayer funded
so it must pay back to taxpayers. But .... did you see if the PBS interviewed, asked opinions of the Real People, who created and defended this nation: Machinists, Mechanics, Builders, Truck Drivers, Soldiers and etc? NO! The PBS is a stage for big media sharks as Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, NY Times and etc
It is an obligation of the PBS to pay back to society: broadcast Forums, Debates of Candidates for US Congress (Senate and House), but intentionally, with conspiracy of big media does not do, that pushed Candidates to accept money, to political prostitution.
If it isn't taxpayer funded
then why would Bush cut back funding and why would it hurt PBS so much if they weren't taxpayer funded. Watch who you call ignorant or at least look in the mirror first.
She said IF taxpayer money was being used
not that it most certainly was.
She made a good point and instead of taking the time to listen, you jump on her over something she didn't even say.
I understand you don't agree with her on anything but is it so hard to listen to valid concerns without having to argue?
Now you can jump on me, LOL.
Well, either way, it's a taxpayer thing.....
it's not for hiring anyone! It's for teaching the already hired employees to be friendlier and more "well-mannered", and to "Hello", "thank you", and "come again". What a joke and what an absolutely stupid waste of taxpayers' dollars!!!
If state employees are supposed to be saying these things in the first place and that is a must, then fire them and hire someone who really wants a job! Really, do YOU or I need someone to come in to teach up how to say "come again" and "thank you"? These people are nuts!!!
More than one way to skin a taxpayer
or attack an amendment. What good is a bullet launcher without bullets? I heard that with their allotment of materials, manufacturers have been directed to make ammunition only for the government because of the war. Hold on a second.....isn't the war supposed to be winding down??
The truly poor already get money from the taxpayer.
nm
Exactly how do you know both are financed by the RNC on the taxpayer dime?...
And even if it were, it's not up to you how the RNC spends its money.
Ten to one, she pays for her own kids way...about the wardrobe...sounds like you're a bit jealous, is all I can see from here.
Yep, let the hard-working taxpayer pay for those
nm
And it is a CONTINUOUS bonus to the taxpayer's pay, ....sm
Trickle-down economics did not work in all those Republican years, so I guess it might be time to think outside the sandbox,guys? Perhaps a new President with new ideas, since the old ones got us in this predicament in the first place? Why aren't the hard-core Pubs more angry that their government and leaders got us here and kept us here, while feeding the rich more tax cuts, and while taking off all the banking regulations and looking the other way???? Crony-ism at its best!
Oh, so it's NOT taxpayer money then, so what's the beef?
x
Can YOU prove it's taxpayer money?
What's the president make? $140,000 yr.? But, it's the perks that are part of his salary - rent free, utility free, a BUDGET for the president to live on. You can simplify it to simply "frivolous" partying, but I do not believe that is the case - there is far more to it than that. There are traditions and a decorum that is expected. I think our president more than fits the bill.
Petty or not, going on a date with taxpayer money
nm
Secretary of the Interior WASTES $245,000 of taxpayer's money
A Lavish Bathroom at Interior -
If Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) is confirmed this month as interior secretary, he'll have a snappy, scarcely used bathroom in his fifth-floor office, thanks to Dirk Kempthorne, the outgoing secretary.
Seems Kempthorne spent about $235,000 in taxpayer funds renovating the bathroom a few months ago, which included installing a new shower, a refrigerator and a freezer and buying monogrammed towels, department officials told our colleague Derek Kravitz.
The General Services Administration approved and partially funded the project, an Interior Department official said. The GSA paid about half the cost to refurbish aging plumbing, which needed to be replaced within four years.
But department officials say much of the money was spent on lavish wood paneling and tile. Among the choice items found in the new bathroom: wainscot wood panels extending from floor to ceiling and cabinet doors revealing a working refrigerator and freezer.
"If Gale Norton needed to shower, at least she was conservative enough to go to the gym in the basement of the building," one career employee quipped, referring to Kempthorne's predecessor.
An initial investigation by the department's inspector general, Earl B. Devaney, found no wrongdoing on the secretary's part because the GSA had approved the project.
A department spokesman, Shane Wolfe, did not return messages seeking comment.
Incoming Cabinet officials often waste absurd amounts of money redecorating perfectly posh offices to their tastes. Watchdogs generally decry the waste of money. But if the projects are part of the stimulus package . . .
How much are we supposed to stand for???...government keeps trying to turn to the taxpayer ...sm
to fix all these messes when we are not the ones with the money. Go to the CEOs, etc with the huge bonuses and golden parachutes, and ALL the money, and have them bail the banks out. They are the ones who made this mess. I live in a state that already double taxes me on my vehicles, has one of the highest sales tax rates in the country, and we even have taxes/fees our loved ones have to pay when we DIE~!!@!@ I am so sick of this! Think I'll quit paying all my taxes and when the IRS comes knocking on my door, I'm gonna hold my hand out on my way out the door on that Bahamas cruise NOT paying taxes paid for, and say oh please bail me out, I can't pay this. Yeah I'll get bail alright, but not in a good way!
As long as a taxpayer complies with the code as it was written
Taxpayers are not responsible for observing "the intent" of the tax law, but for observing its specific terms.
It's the obligation of the legislature to make sure that the law is written in such a way that it reflects their intentions. Unfortunately (or in some cases, fortunately), the intentions of the legislature are often so ambiguous, inappropriate or impossible to implement by tax laws that such a hope is doomed from the start.
Not very cost effective, is it? nm
x
The boxes only cost about $75.... sm
and as the poster above said, this has been in the offing for some time now. Surely, if a person can afford a television, they could afford a box.... Even if they have to save up for it. What about when all the analog televisions have been converted? They are no longer making analog televisions, so the jobs in this field would go bye-bye.
What would cost more in the long
The government astronomically increasing the deficit -or- the government doing nothing our nation nosediving into economic collapse?
Yes, our taxes will increase, as will our children's and probably, at least for some of us, our grandchildren's. But the alternative is far more dire.
Frankly, I don't know if what the feds have done (during both administrations) was the right thing to do. Even the economists can't agree. Some say it was ill-advised, some say it was misdirected, some say it was too much, others say it was not enough. I am just glad that, for the moment at least, I have a roof over my head and do not have to stand in a soup line. The future? Who knows?
It may have cost her this crown........... sm
but it may have preserved her other one! I, for one, am glad to see a Christian standing up for her beliefs in the face of being unpopular and losing something that is important to her.
I think it did cost her the crown
I heard that Perez gave her zero points for her answer. If he was being at all fair, she would have gotten something for her answer; it was a good answer, and her opinion, but he didn't agree with it.
She was in the lead before this question, so yes, I believe it did.
Yeah, spend more taxpayer money on food stamps.
nm
It is waste alright! You dont spend taxpayer money
nm
What with the rise in the cost of living....(sm)
its hard to make it on just $169,300 a year.....ROFL...they should try working with my budget.
How much does it cost to throw a party?
Look, I don't care if Obama's inaugaration party is costing 21 million, but in the light of where our economy is right now, do you think it's a good idea? I mean, can't you have a good party for around 10 million? This is NOT a political question. I'm not attacking Obama, it's more of an economic question.
Nothing is very cost effective and now i heard
they want to up the ethanol production by 12%....so that means higher corn prices again next year.
and of course, the speculators are currently driving up the cost, again.....
All the more reason to institute Picken's Plan..........there
and of course, the speculators are currently driving up the cost, again.....
All the more reason to institute Picken's Plan..........there isn't
We don't know if the answer cost her the crown.
There were apparently either 10 or 12 judges, each of whom rated each candidate in the final round as "1 through 5". Depending on the margin she lost by, and how her answer figured in each judge's assessment, the answer may very well have cost her the crown - or not. We simply do not know without seeing the score cards and also finding out from each judge how her answer figured into their decisions.
We care because it's Alaska taxpayer money for her kids to travel, even though uninvited nm
what a joke palin is... she's had it now
This does not cost anything. Just pick a card and a message...sm
Or even type your own message and Xerox handles the mailing. This is neat.
And do you know why the cost of living for the middle class has gone down...?
because we are being taxed to death. The amount of our income off the top for taxes has increased over all those years. More programs to help the "poor," some of which have moved people from what used to be middle class to the "poor class" to get on some of those social programs...which is never a good thing...and meanwhile the working middle class continues to get the tax shaft. Yeah, we are being had...by those who want to spend, tax, spend, tax, spend....
Again, you are skirting the major issues and the cost...
did you read all the France article? Their physicians make two-thirds less than ours...and why? Because there is no medical school tuition in France. Can you imagine what would happen to this country's quality of care if you made medical schools no tuition? Can you see Cornell Medical School, Harvard Medical School to name just two, schools who graduate the most brilliant minds in medicine...going to a no-tuition basis? How are they going to be able to train physicians with only government doled-out money to support them? The quality of physician in this country, followed rapidly by the quality of care would tank. If you come from academic medicine, ask those physicians how they feel about no tuition medical school and having their fees capped. Go ahead and ask them.
Our own socialized care is substandard. Articles every day about VA Hospitals and the deplorable conditions in many of them. Veterans having to wait weeks and months for appointments, etc. I know. I have seen the system at work. The government cannot oversee the socialized programs they have now. Medicare and Medicaid are both rife with waste and fraud. We all know this. Because the government cannot oversee them the way they should. And you want to extend this to every person in the US? Look at this reality-based. It is a fiasco in the making.
I am sure the Canadians and the UK thought it would be wonderful too. In the first months it may have been. However, things get skewed when the cost starts to catch up. That is when you end up with a population having over HALF their income taken off the top in taxes to feed the fatted calf. You will note that the article said France was considering taxing both earned and unearned income to feed THEIR calf. When that happens, ask the French how they feel about socialized medicine.
I don't know where you get that healthcare costs are driven by insurance companies. That is nuts. They don't set the fees doctors, clinics, drug companies, yada yada, charge. In fact, it was some of the organized insurance companies, like HMOs, who went to clinics, physicians, etc., to negotiate deals for their consumers...so that those clinics would accept a certain rate for their services. The clinics would agree to less than their normal fees in order to get the business of that HMO. That is the free market WORKING. The clinic I go to for my care, when I get a bill, the insurance company shows what they charged, what they paid, and in nice bold letters at the bottom it says that I am not responsible for the difference because the clinic agreed to that amount for that service, regardless of what their normal charge is.
So, yes, in a way insurance companies do drive health care...but in a good way in my case, and I am sure in other cases across this country, if people would just open their eyes and look.
What this appears to be, on the face of it, is that people just do not want to pay for their own insurance, they want to turn it into yet another entitlement...the biggest one ever. If they want to let the government control them to that extent...more power to them. These same people who want to give up their personal right to control their own health care are the same people that complain about civil liberties and wiretapping. Don't tap my phone, but go ahead and take my health care completely out of my hands as long as you pay for it I don't have to.
No thanks. I do not want to be tied to the government for my health care and I do not want them making my decisions for me. One thing leads to another and before long the government (or more specifically, the Democrats) have you tied to them for your every need. Then, my friends, they have you. You will be living in a socialist country. And if that looks good to you...look at Venezuela. Look at the disparity there between those in power and the "people." Look at Cuba. Look at what socialist Germany turned into before World War II. Please look at history, folks. Socialism always evolves into a dictatorship. Always. Because once they have you dependent upon them for your every need...all I am saying is be careful what you ask for.
Read the article...it says it all there cost of bed and electricity...nm
Palin is a fraud....
lol
I agree....cost and insurance practices DO...
need overhaul. And McCain has good ideas to take care of that, called competition. Making all insurance available in all parts of the country is a start...so no monopolies in certain parts of the country. Now there are some really great plans, trouble is, not available everywhere in the country. McCain thinks if you offer a policy, you offer it everywhere, if you are a national company. Insurance companies, if they toe the line, can help control costs, just like they do in certain parts of the country where physicians will take whatever the insurane company is willing to pay. If they are made to compete nationally prices will have to come down. That is what competitive market does. And rather than having the government muck around in it, McCain is just going to give a tax credit $2500 individual and $5000 family to help pay premiums. That is pretty significant, and no strings attached. You still make your own health care decisions. And that works for me.
Keating 5 cost taxpayers $125 billion.
x
Fannie/Freddie going to cost 7 billion...
if we are lucky.
O's alleged ties will cost money plus a lot more...nm
nm
I guess McCain's hairdos don't cost much. LOL
x
If bridge builders cannot afford the cost........ sm
of a movie ticket, then what good does it do to provide/create more jobs in that genre?
Folks are hurting and they can't afford their own homes, much less movie tickets and popcorn. I say let the movie industry take a little pay cut here and there and bring their multimillion dollar projects down to a more reasonable figure and bring the films in under budget.
Do you mean because we can figure on 500% cost overruns on all these projects? sm
I use the interstate. After all, I have to visit my vast real estate holdings scattered hither and thither around the state. Us wealthy folks are like that.
Now, I just checked with my chauffeur as to his opinion. "Wigweevil", I said. "Wigweevil, tell me. How is the state of the interstate in your opinion? And take off that cap while you're inside the mansion!"
"Sire", said Wigweevil (he pretends he lives in feudal England). "Sire, what do you mean by the state of the interstate?"
"Well, you know, Wigweevil. That road thingie that runs from one village to the next. Is the concrete, or mortar or whatever you call it. Is it all there? No yawning caverns? And the bridges - not too wobbly, I trust?"
"No, sire. The asphalt or macadam is entirely intact and the bridges seem trustworthy."
"I see, Wigweevil. That greatly relieves my mind. How about animals? No vast herds of buffalo wandering about on the asphalt or macadam? No dodging around charging rhinocerussusses? Everything in order along those lines?"
"Quite, sire."
"Very good, Wigweevil. Well, I am hearing that the interstate is becoming a veritable wilderness, so I want you to put the elephant gun in the car against the eventuality of rhinocerusseses in the future. And you might throw my water wings in the trunk in case a bridge collapses and throws us into the drink. That is all, Wigweevil."
"Very good, sire."
The health care plan cost so far
is about $1 Trillion, and yes, it will be covered by taxes again. I don't think it's 4 pages, either. It's more like another 1000 pages. I made a note to look it up, but can't today.
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