Right Mind

Legislative Update #3 from Rep. Tom Trail

From Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow).

This has been a week of continued concern over the economic decline. Estimates for the 4th quarter indicate a 3.8% decline in the national economy, and that is most certainly reflected in Idaho. Budgets developed by JFAC are reflecting, for example, in k-12 education almost a 5% cut. This is for the first time in many years that a public education budget will have suffered a reduction. At the same time we all have concerns about the negative impact on educations and essential services, there are indications that the National Economic Stimulus Package may offer some hope for education, transportation, and essential services. The challenge will be for Congress with the President's sign off to be in time that State Legislatures like Idaho to have the basic information in time to utilize the money in the F10 budget process. I suspect that if the details come in late and we have adjourned that a special session might be called. Even if we receive the badly needed federal funds we need to guard against individuals in power at the state level wanting to use the dollars for "special" projects.

1. Public K-12 Education--Here are the major points in the $79 million K-12 cut proposed by SPI Luna.

• $20.8 million: reduce discretionary funds by the amount of state lottery and state maintenance funds.
• $2.5 million: eliminate state reimbursement for field trips, test driving and bus driver training.
• $1.7 million: prohibit large districts access to the cost-per-mile measure.
• $3.9 million: reduce administrative staff allowance.
• $4 million: eliminate early retirement for teachers and cap the index multiplier for teachers at the current level.
• $6.1 million: freeze teacher salary increases for one year.
• $15.1: reduce base and minimum salaries by the equivalent of three contract days. Give districts direction in how to implement this reduction.
• $3.3 million: reduce state funds on textbooks that are matched by the state.
• $3.8 million: reduce state funding for textbooks by 40 percent
• $781,000: reduces funding supplies from $350 from $500.

Part of the reduction will be offset by taking $17 million from the reserves. If the cuts have to go much deeper then SPI Luna has a proposal that would basically eliminate over 600 teaching positions. The impact of this proposal was covered in my earlier e mail letter this week.

2. Economic Stimulus Plan--I simply want to share some of the highlights of the House Version of the plan which passed earlier this week. The Senate is working on their version and once the bill passes it will be sent to a conference committee. The figures below are Idaho specific, and cover a two year period.

• $277,000,000: Medicaid relief
• $64,000,000: Food stamps
• $319,000,000: State stabilization fund--to restore cuts in K-12 and Higher Education to FY08 levels
• $220,000,000: Highway and Bridge Infrastructure

3. Further Data Based on National Stimulus Plan Data

• $3.8 billion: Rural water and waste disposal.
• $2.8 billion: Rural Broadband infrastructure development
• $l.5 billion: wireless and broadband grants
• $3 billion: for Byrne justice assistance grants
• $4.5 billion: Army Corps of Engineers
• $6.0 billion: Energy and Water development
• $600 million: Training for Primary Care Physicians and Nurses
• $l.5 billion: University Research Facilities
• $1 billion: Educational Technology
• $15.6 billion: Pell Grants
• $6 billion: Higher education repair and modernization.

There are many other areas not covered, but this does give you a flavor in what is being proposed. In the meanwhile states will need to move ahead to set budgets with our current resources and knowledge of the economic downturn. The challenge will then begin when Congress finishes approving the Economic Stimulus Package and states know what funds will be coming in. The Stimulus Package will cover two years -- FY10, and FY11.

I've spent considerable time on the budget and in terms of the National Stimulus Package, and next week we'll return to more specific legislative issues within Idaho Again, I like to hear your comments and recommendations. My e mail is ttrail@house.idaho.gov and my office phone is 332-1148.

Representative Tom Trail

Obama Plan Has Already Boosted IRS Tax Collections

From Scott Ott over at Scrapple Face:

In office less than two weeks, President Barack Obama has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with an innovative plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up, in full, immediately.

“The president’s plan is simple but ingenious,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, “He targets wealthy individuals who filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of tens of thousands of dollars. Then he just nominates them for cabinet positions. They suddenly see the error of their ways, and they cut checks for the full amount owed, plus interest.”

In the month of January alone, Mr. Obama has forced Timothy Geithner, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to cough up $43,000 he owed the IRS, and former Sen. Tom Daschle to pay off his $128,000 tax obligation. Mr. Geithner will put his tax-paying experience to good use, overseeing the IRS as Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Daschle hopes his recently-good behavior will garner Senate confirmation as the next Secretary of the Health and Human Services.

“With the IRS underfunded as it is,” said Mr. Gibbs, “this collection method is much more efficient than dispatching field agents. Arresting these men, or compelling them to pay penalties would take years, and make them feel bad about themselves. The president’s method not only gets more money to the government to help our economy, but provides a self-esteem boost by giving these wealthy men important-sounding titles.”

The Obama administration will reportedly expand the program by creating hundreds, perhaps thousands, of additional cabinet posts, available to any rich person willing to “fess up and settle up” with the IRS. 

Credit Where Credit's Due

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Hail Obama!

An Education Stimulus? Congress's proposed spending on schools should be linked to reforms.

So says the Washington Post.

But recall the definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Education is poised to win big under the economic stimulus plan hurtling through Congress. But it remains to be seen whether America's schoolchildren really will be helped by the huge investment of public funds that is being planned. After all, it seems that much of the billions of dollars of new federal spending is aimed at continuing programs and policies that largely have failed to improve student achievement. For the amount of money being spent, Congress should insist on real change, not simply more of the same.

But recall: it’s not really about the kids.

"When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children."
—Albert Shanker, the AFT's longtime president, famously remarked in 1985

The Dems Own this Bailout

The House passed the trillion dollar stimulus package with zero Republicans voting for it.

Even Idaho’s own Democrat, Walt Minnick, voted against it.

I’ve been against this since Pres. Bush headed down this path.

But the Dems now totally own this train wreck — thinking that we can spend ourselves out of an economic crash. It’s economic blindness!

Putin Bashes the Bailout

Vladimir Putin bashes the bailout, comparing to the failures of the Soviet Union:

“Interference of the State, the belief in the omnipotence of the State: that is a reaction to market failures,” Mr Putin said in his keynote address at the opening of the four-day meeting [in Davos]. “There is a temptation to expand direct interference of state in economy. In the Soviet Union that became an absolute. We paid a very dear price for that."

…

His comments on the dangers of state bailouts were well-received by many analysts, who have warned that stimulus packages will fail without a co-ordinated international response to bring in global regulation.

Only Little People Pay Taxes

From Cato-at Liberty:

But honestly, shouldn’t people who want to increase taxes on the rest of us — like Daschle, Geithner, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chairman Charles Rangel, Al Franken, Governor David Paterson’s top aide, Democratic National Convention staffers, Al Sharpton, and so on — pay their own taxes? 

Why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest?

From Cato-at Liberty:

House Democrats propose to spend $550 billion of their two-year, $825 billion "stimulus bill" (the rest of it being tax cuts). Most of the spending is unlikely to be timely or temporary. Strangely, most of it is targeted toward sectors of the economy where unemployment is the lowest.

The December unemployment rate was only 2.3% for government workers and 3.8% in education and health. Unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction, by contrast, were 8.3% and 15.2% respectively. Yet 39% of the $550 billion in the bill would go to state and local governments. Another 17.3% would go to health and education -- sectors where relatively secure government jobs are also prevalent.

If the intent of the plan is to alleviate unemployment, why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest? 

Percentage

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Sali files papers for Congress in 2010

Maybe the next round of “throw the bums out” will put Sali back in.

From the Associated Press:

Former Idaho Republican congressman Bill Sali is planning another run for the U.S. House.

Sali, who lost his House seat in November to Democrat Walt Minnick, filed a statement of candidacy this week with the Federal Election Commission. The paperwork indicates Sali will take the same "Sali for Congress" name used in his 2006 and 2008 campaigns.

For now, Sali's decision sets up a rematch with Minnick, who became the first Idaho Democrat in 16 years to win a seat in Congress. Minnick beat Sali 51 percent to 49 percent.

In 2006, Sali won a six-person GOP primary, then went on to defeat Democrat Larry Grant in the general election.

Sali, a lawyer from Kuna and former state lawmaker, begins his quest with a campaign debt of about $124,000, according to federal documents.

Quotable

"What do you suggest she should have done? She refused to have them killed. That is a very painful thing."

- Angela Suleman, mother of woman who had octuplets, to The Los Angeles Times. The new mother, who has six other children, was given the option by doctors to reduce the number of embryos. She declined.

Don’t you just love the euphamisms? “Pregnancy Reduction”.

Quaint.

Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Gender Designation

What are you feeling like being today? Male? Female? Androgynous? 

(Click to Enlarge)

HT: Dave M.

Gore Warns Global Warming Will Bring Civilization to a ‘Screeching Halt’

“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!” (from Ghost Busters).

From CNSNews:

Former Vice President Al Gore told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday that if action is not taken by the United States to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the world as we know it could disappear.
 
“If we stop global greenhouse gas emissions today, according to some scientists, we will see an increase in temperatures that many scientists believe would be extremely challenging for civilization,” Gore testified on Capitol Hill. “If we continue at today’s levels, some scientists have said it can be an increase (in global temperature) of up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
“This would bring a screeching halt to human civilization and threaten the fiber of life everywhere on the earth,” Gore said. “And this is within the century, if we don’t change.”

Ah, the climate of extremes.

Social services remove young children from grandparents and arrange adoption by gay couple

From the U.K. Telegraph:

Social services have removed two young children from the care of their grandparents and arranged for them to be adopted by a homosexual couple.

The five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister were being looked after by their grandparents because their mother, a recovering drug addict, was not considered capable.

But social workers stepped in after allegedly deciding that the couple, who are aged 59 and 46, were "too old" to look after the children.

They were allegedly stripped of their carer's rights and informed they would be barred from seeing the children altogether unless they agreed to the same-sex adoption.

The distraught grandfather said: "It breaks my heart to think that our grandchildren are being forced to grow up in an environment without a mother-figure.

"We are not prejudiced, but I defy anyone to explain to us how this can be in their best interests.

"The ideal for any child is to have a loving father and a loving mother in their lives."

His wife added: "It's so important for children to fit in, and I feel our grandchildren will be marked out from the start when they draw pictures of their two dads."

The case raises fears about state interference in family arrangements, and concerns about the practice of adoption by same-sex couples.

HT: Chris W.

Weather Channel Founder John Coleman on Global Warming

From ***:

The Amazing Story Behind The Global Warming Scam

By John Coleman
January 28, 2009

The key players are now all in place in Washington and in state governments across America to officially label carbon dioxide as a pollutant and enact laws that tax we citizens for our carbon footprints. Only two details stand in the way, the faltering economic times and a dramatic turn toward a colder climate. The last two bitter winters have lead to a rise in public awareness that CO2 is not a pollutant and is not a significant greenhouse gas that is triggering runaway global warming.

How did we ever get to this point where bad science is driving big government we have to struggle so to stop it?

You can read the entire history over here.

But here’s his conclusion.

We are already suffering from this CO2 silliness in many ways. Our energy policy has been strictly hobbled by no drilling and no new refineries for decades. We pay for the shortage this has created every time we buy gas. On top of that the whole thing about corn based ethanol costs us millions of tax dollars in subsidies. That also has driven up food prices. And, all of this is a long way from over.

And, I am totally convinced there is no scientific basis for any of it.

Global Warming. It is the hoax. It is bad science. It is a high jacking of public policy. It is no joke. It is the greatest scam in history.

And that from the founder of the Weather Channel.

We can only hope that enough people will realize the scam that the feds are trying to force on us before we lose any more liberty or money.

HT: Andy Sandlin

Oppose Freedom of Choice Act

From the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment:

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is a radical bill. It creates a “fundamental right” to abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy. No governmental body at any level would be able to “deny or interfere with” this right, or to “discriminate” against the exercise of this right “in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.” For the first time, abortion would become an entitlement the government must condone and promote.

FOCA would go well beyond the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in imposing an extreme abortion regimen on our country. No other piece of legislation would have such a destructive impact on society’s ability to limit or regulate abortion. It would eliminate a broad range of laws—informed consent laws; parental involvement laws; laws promoting maternal health; abortion clinic regulations; government programs and facilities that pay for or promote childbirth and other health care without subsidizing abortion; conscience protection laws; laws prohibiting a particular abortion procedure (e.g., partial birth abortion); laws requiring that abortions only be performed by a licensed physician; and so on. For a careful legal analysis of FOCA by the USCCB’s Office of General Counsel, see: www.nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=190. A summary fact sheet for general distribution can be found at: www.nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=194

In a September 19 letter to Members of Congress, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, raised grave concerns about any possible consideration of FOCA. “Despite its deceptive title, FOCA would deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry,” and would “counteract any and all sincere efforts by government to reduce abortions in our country.” The Cardinal declared: “We can’t reduce abortions by promoting abortion.” He urged all Senators and Representatives “to pledge their opposition to FOCA.” For full text of the letter, see: www.usccb.org/prolife/FOCArigaliltr.pdf.

Recommended Actions: Participate in the Fight FOCA National Pro-Life Postcard and E-Mail Campaign. Contact your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators. To order postcards, see: nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=205. To send an e-mail, click on the button at the bottom of this page.

You can also contact your federal elected officials by FAX letter or phone. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202.224.3121; or call Members’ local offices. Full contact info can be found on Members of Congress’s web sites, at: www.senate.gov  and www.house.gov.

Message to all Members: “Please oppose FOCA and retain laws against the funding and promotion of abortion.” Those Members of Congress who cosponsored FOCA in the last Congress should be asked to not to cosponsor the bill in the current Congress. To check this list of cosponsors, see: nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=191.

Other Actions: Place an ad opposing FOCA in your local Catholic paper or other publication. Sample ads in English and Spanish can be found at: nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=50.

HT: Daniel F.

The Big Payback

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Stimulus passes; Republicans all vote no

From World Magazine.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive economic stimulus package Wednesday, 244 to 188, at a cost of $819 billion, while the U.S. Senate hammered out their own version totaling $900 billion. All 177 House Republicans voted no.

Do you feel stimulated?

Oh, and riddle me this: why when G.W. Bush is pushing for the “stimulus” package, the Republicans voted for it. But now that the Dems are in power, the Republicans voted against it?

Did they “get religion” now that they are out of power?

Convenient.

The Go To Man with the Answers

Al Gore Quote of the Day

“Most importantly, as long as we continue to depend on dirty fossil fuels like coal and oil to meet our energy needs, and dump 70 million tons of global warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, we move closer and closer to several dangerous tipping points which scientists have repeatedly warned – again just yesterday – will threaten to make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable destruction of the conditions that make human civilization possible on this planet.”

Delivered before the US Senate today, on a day when, according to The Washington Post, a layer of sleet and freezing rain blanketed the Washington area.

Big Al even referred to James Lovelock, who has predicted mankind will be wiped out by 2100 from global warming.

As my friend Scott Linn wrote:

Whatever gives the government the most control will be the correct solution to all our problems.

That’s where we’re at.

GOP: Stimulus packed with pork

From CNN:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the plan doesn't address major problems or President Obama's priorities.

It’s hard for me to be very sympathetic with the Republicans when they spent money like drunken sailors over the last eight years.

Now they get religion?

Sorry. Too little, too late.  

Postmaster General: Mail days may need to be cut

No mail delivery on Tuesdays?

From the Associated Press:

Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday, in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week. If the change happens, that doesn't necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous post office studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day when mail flow is light, such as Tuesday.

Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year. "If current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year," Postmaster General John E. Potter said in testimony for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

Total mail volume was 202 billion items last year, over 9 billion less than the year before, the largest single volume drop in history.

And, despite annual rate increases, Potter said 2009 could be the first year since 1946 that the actual amount of money collected by the post office declines.

"It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable," Potter said. "I reluctantly request that Congress remove the annual appropriation bill rider, first added in 1983, that requires the Postal Service to deliver mail six days each week."

"The ability to suspend delivery on the lightest delivery days, for example, could save dollars in both our delivery and our processing and distribution networks. I do not make this request lightly, but I am forced to consider every option given the severity of our challenge," Potter said.

Margaret Thatcher Quote of the Day

Obama’s First Act: Taxpayer Money To Fund Abortions Of Black Babies

From Prison Planet:

The sickest irony amidst the euphoria of the inauguration of America’s first black President is that one of Obama’s very first actions in office will be to ensure that millions more black babies are aborted in third world countries, with American taxpayers picking up the tab.

President Obama’s first act of “change” will be to issue an executive order that will lift a ban on using taxpayer money to fund international “family planning” groups who counsel women and perform abortions around the world, but mainly in Africa.

Fresh from his complete disregard of Israel’s barbarian bombardment of Gaza, an onslaught that has killed around 400 children, Obama will ensure that potentially millions more never even get the chance of life in the first place.

Obama will reverse the so-called Mexico City policy, the federal rule prohibiting aid to family planning groups which was instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984. The policy does not apply to abortions carried out in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions. Obama’s executive order will pass almost exactly 36 years to the day since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.

Nothing like being forced to pick up the tab on murdering unborn children overseas.

It’s outrageous.

Obama’s Muslim TV Interview Sets New Tone

From SNN:

President Barack Obama chose al-Arabiya to grant his first full interview as president of the United States, trying to repair the damage done by his predecessor’s efforts to free 25 million Iraqis from dictatorship and terrorism. The president snubbed CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, ABC, CBS, PBS and even SNN, according to a White House spokesman because he wanted to talk directly to the Arab world, without the filter of a network that’s just a tool of the imperialistic Zionist American regime. Tonight, SNN brings you an in-depth analysis of this historic interview. 

Jackpot

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

A gift for all those "hard-to-love" people you know...

Breaking News: UI names two finalists for president's job

The following is from the online edition of the Lewiston Tribune.

Kansas State University Provost Duane Nellis and Montana State University Provost David Dooley are the first two finalists to become the next University of Idaho president, the State Board of Education announced Wednesday.

Board spokesman Mark Browning said a total of five candidates have been identified. The other three will be named as campus visit schedules are made in the coming weeks, he said. 

Breaking News: Starbucks announces it could cut as many as 6,000 store positions this year.

More bad economic news.

From KREM News in Spokane:

Starbucks announces it could cut as many as 6,000 store positions this year.