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Ron Kaye to Speak
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In the morning, candidates for the March 3, 2009 election have been invited to discuss their candidacy in becoming part of the Los Angeles City Government including Mayor, City Attorney, Community College District Offices Board of Trustees, and City Controller.
Those who are members of the Republican Party will be introduced and allowed time to speak at the meeting. Others will talk with you if you wish outside the meeting.
After lunch, Ron Kaye, will discuss Proposition B, the controversial Green Energy and Good Jobs for the Los Angeles Program through the Department of Water and Power. It is controversial because it also will make a Charter Amendment which is not in the interest of the City of Los Angeles. You will not want to miss this discussion.
Ron, retired as editor from the Daily News, is currently working with Save Los Angeles Project, citywide, because he became an activist for a better, fairer government locally. We welcome Ron.
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Dear All,
Thank you to all of you for your presence at our first general meeting of this year. Your attendance and participation were especially lively and thoughtful, as usual though, making the meetings very pleasant and efficient in every way. Special thank you to our honored guest speakers as well as the candidates whom we learned about. Our February meeting will bring about more candidates participating in the March 3rd election, along with a main guest speaker for the afternoon program.
Thank you to everyone who has already renewed their membership for 2009. We welcome continuous participation in new membership along with renewal. In the months to come we will be holding a mini “political forum” amongst all of us with each or most of the meetings, and everyone is welcome to participate. I invite you to share with our “political forum” chair, Mrs Leonora Andersen if you have a “hot topic”.
For the 2009, the executive board and slate of officers is challenging the CPWHRWF membership to not only vote and join us for our monthly luncheons and meetings, but to also state the message of the Republican Party clearly and often.
Republicans have a valuable message to include:
1. Defending our nation. 2. Supporting our Heroes and
3. Securing the Peace.
We hope you and others will join us to share what is important to you, and learn more about our Republican platform:
“Our party embodies a uniquely American spirit, the spirit of independent minds, and creativity. The conviction that open and honest debate is essential to the freedom, we enjoy as Americans. This platform is a testament to that freedom and stands as our promise to future generations, that we will do whatever it takes to preserve it. It is grounded on our heartfelt belief that our principles, our policies and our visions will lead our American family, not just through present dangers, but to a horizon of prosperity and liberty mankind, that has only begun to explore.”
-Congressman Kevin McCarthy and Senator Richard Burr in the 2008 Republican Platform Preamble, website http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/.
We are happy and so thankful to our 2nd VP Ways and Means, Priscilla Sullivan and Jackie Russo for undertaking generously and with enthusiasm their role to lead our quickly upcoming first fundraiser events, our traditional “Bunco Party” on March 19, 2009 at Pril’s beautiful home up on the hill in West Hills, followed by our first big fundraiser Tea, with the location yet to be determined (out of 3 currently now in plan). Work is being arranged, for both of these events as well as others to come through the year, so each of your help would be appreciated very much in any way you can.
Please stay tuned in for activities upcoming throughout the year, and dear to join, I promise it will be a fulfilling and rewarding experience.
Do each of you think of a young Republican who wishes to apply for a Scholarship? Join the Annual Advocacy Workshop in Sacramento? Maybe want to be a Republican if he or she is not one already and start a “Young Republican Group” affiliated with the CPWHRWF club?
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Want to join? Use the membership section of this website.
More Renewing Members: Sue Abato, Elvira Brigante, Linda Brooks, Jo Eshelby, Arline Fiorito, Patricia Huffman, Ethel Johnson, Barbara Kirchner, Diane Legler, Anjanette Milham, Pat Milham, Susan Murphy, Andria Page, Marjorie Payne, Maria Schwartz, Beverly Sharp, Linda Starr, Julie Stranges, Priscilla Sullivan, Louise Thompson,
New member is Joyce Mangia
More Associate renewals: Mary Ellen Holland, Laurel Hubbard, Russell Milham, Geroge & Nancy Spero, and Linelle Thomas
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"Here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break." - Winston Churchill (1956) on the great work of the Magna Carta.
As an English teacher, historian, and patriot, I love historical documents. I think they are important, and I stand in awe when I am in the presence of truly great ones. In that respect, I am an uber student. When face to face with one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence in Dallas a few years ago, I cried. The same day I stared in awe at an original Folio of Shakespeare's complete works. In September, 2008 I stood before Abraham Lincoln's handwritten copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and soaked in the meaning of its existence, its persistence, its insistence. I have the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to thank for that one.
All of our students should visit the Reagan Library at least once. It's just over the hill in Simi Valley, and is a hotbed of Educational opportunities.
If you are as passionate about patriotism in America as I am, you will be thrilled to know that one of the biggest contributors to our nation's democracy will be there in person for you to witness its grandeur. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum unveiled its exhibit of the Magna Carta Friday, January 23rd. The display will continue through June 29th.
According to the Daily News, the document is one of only four remaining copies. The Magna Carta established certain rights for its subjects, including habeas corpus, an individual right that we take for granted in 2009. We speak of our rights: our right to free speech, our right to privacy, our right to bear arms, to be educated, to be treated equally. The list goes on and on. But dare we forget the sacrifices, the sweat, the rigor with which these "rights" were established?
The Magna Carta served as a model for our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. The ancient document limited the rights of the King (this was huge), and ultimately paved the way to the rights of individual citizens. The rights of our citizens are far-reaching, providing almost limitless opportunity. Yet, if we aren't careful, our children and our children's children will soon forget from whence they came if we as educators don't do a better job of reminding them. We must continue to challenge their intellects by exposing them to great minds of the past, preserved in the living, breathing documents of history. In the words of Ronald Reagan, whom I greatly admire, we must remind this generation that, "Our joint love of liberty was spawned by a common heritage. It was English history and tradition, with the Magna Carta and the Common Law, which gave birth to our Declaration of Independence. It was men of enormous intellectual capacity and courage...whose powerful ideas fed our notions of individual freedom and the dignity of all people." - Ronald Reagan, Feb 26, 1981
The Reagan Library is located at 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065. For more information, visit them on the web at www.reaganlibrary.com.
Oh, and take a student with you!
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BUNCO-BRIDGE PARTY and LUNCHEON
FOOD,
PRIZES,
FUN….
.BRING YOUR FRIENDS!
WHEN: Thursday, March 19, 2009
TIME: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: home of Priscilla Sullivan
RESERVATIONS: Sign up with Pril Sullivan or make a response on this website.
COST INCLUDES LUNCH: $20
Don’t know how to play? Come anyway. It’s easy!
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For several years, our club has helped to support the efforts of Haven Hills, Inc., an organization that serves victims of domestic violence in the San Fernando Valley. Their stated mission is to "Stop domestic violence, build self reliance, and save lives."
They give secluded shelter to battered women and their children and, twice a year, our club contributes non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, and other needed items for this cause. (At Christmas-time, we also contribute to their Holiday House project.)
I have decided that April will be our Spring contribution date. Plan to bring any of the following things to our April general meeting. You may also contribute money if that is your choice.
Food items should be for a single family, to feed from three to five people, rather than large supply. They include canned tuna, meats, fruit and vegetables, pasta, spaghetti sauce, rice, cereal, and packaged macaroni and cheese. Other necessities are toilet paper, paper towels, and toiletries such as toothpaste, and kitchen and bath soaps.
In May, I will collect items to be sent overseas to our troops by way of Operation Gratitude.
We continue to support the “MY STUFF” Bag Project every second Wednesday of the month.
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Lincoln Was Tall... So Is Obama; Lincoln Came From Illinois,
So Does Obama; Lincoln Was a Lawyer, So Is Obama; Lincoln Had Ten Fingers……...
Obama hasn't hidden his homage to Abraham Lincoln. He announced his candidacy in front of the Illinois statehouse, where Lincoln warned the country about a "house divided" in 1858. He studies Lincoln's speeches. He echoed more of Lincoln's words during his presidential acceptance. He recently took his family on a secret excursion of Lincoln's memorial, in front of which will be the grand stand for pre-inaugural events. He replicated Lincoln's inaugural train journey. He took the oath of office with Lincoln's inaugural Bible. The title of his speech, "A New Birth of Freedom," is borrowed from the Gettysburg Address. He even duplicated a Lincoln-like menu at the luncheon following the inauguration.
After his arrival in the Senate in 2005, Obama talked about a favorite Lincoln photograph he keeps in his office. "On trying days, the portrait, a reproduction of which hangs in my office, soothes me; it always asks me questions," Obama wrote.
However soothing, say historians, the main problem with channeling predecessors is that it rarely does much to illuminate a president's real choices. Usually, the similarities between different eras are entirely superficial. Some historians say this is an issue raised by Obama's embrace of "Team of Rivals," the history of Lincoln written by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Obama has spoken extensively about how much he values the book, and commentators have portrayed his selection of people like Joe Biden as vice president and Hillary Clinton as secretary of state as an illustration of the principle in action.
But Goodwin's book makes clear that Lincoln did not recruit rivals into his cabinet as some kind of best-practices management tool. He did it because it was the only way to keep a unified political coalition in the face of enormous ideological differences even within his own party on the main questions of the day-the future of slavery and the Union.
As it was, keeping these rivals on the same team was an exercise that took vast amounts of Lincoln's time energy and political capital. "It was not at all unusual, in the 19th century, to put your rivals in the cabinet," Foner said. Plus, he continued: "Lincoln's cabinet was pretty dysfunctional. It didn't meet that often, and when it did it couldn't decide anything."
Lincoln’s career teaches that pragmatic conciliation can take a statesman only so far, and suggests that some principles can’t be fudged, some differences can’t be papered over, some absolute truths are, well, absolute. The book the new president ought to read (or re-read) on this question—the book that counterbalances the conciliatory lessons of Team of Rivals—is Churchill’s The Gathering Storm, the greatest manual ever written on the question of when not to conciliate a rival.
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IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Walter Moore is a Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, and he wrtoe this January 24, 2009
"Gang arrests reach record high." That terse headline in the Daily News, but it didn't even begin to tell the story. So I will:
In 2008, ICE agents in the Los Angeles area arrested 1,970 gang members for immigration law violations. Of those, 850 are being prosecuted for state or federal charges, and the remaining 1,120 are being deported. If they re-enter the country, they will have committed a felony for which they could spend 20 years in a federal prison.
Think about that: 1,970 gang members off the streets; and 1,120 gang members out of our country -- without our having had to wait to catch and convict them for murder, extortion or selling drugs.
Can you imagine how much crime 1,970 gang members commit each year? How many families they shatter? Can you imagine how much property they steal from people who worked hard to pay for it?
We can fix this city. It's not rocket science. It's law enforcement. The focus of the City's "anti-gang" programs is all wrong: we don't need to keep kids out of gangs; we need to keep gangs out of our city.
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The 'Secret' Solar Plan Document -- 13 reasons Prop. B is a Fraud
December 19, 2008
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City Council President Eric Garcetti and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have defended their Proposition B solar energy plan and the mad rush to get it approved after disclosure that a consultant warned it was "extremely risky" and too costly
A critical study was made by PA Consulting Group, which is conducting a five-year review of DWP operations.
The plan counts on $2 billion in subsidies from the federal government -- two-thirds of the total cost. Most of the money will go to China which Garcetti said is ramping up its capacity to make the panels -- a fact that undermines City Hall's claims it will significantly stimulate the local economy and give birth to a local solar technology industry.
The jobs of installing the solar panels will go to the DWP union, the IBEW, which developed the plan in the first place.
DWP SOLAR -- CONSULTANTS FINDINGS
1. This proposal is "extremely risky."
2. DWP cannot accomplish this program in the time frame and manner in which it is laid out.
3. This is an extremely aggressive proposal. The 400 MW represent 143 % of the solar installed in the entire state and 85 % of the solar installed in the entire nation.
4. Due to the aggressive moves towards renewables, materials shortages which are already being experienced will worsen. This proposal would put significant additional pressure on supply shortages. This would not only delay implementation of DWP programs but likely result in significant increases in cost increases for materials.
5. While costs could go down over time as technology is perfected, materials manufacturers come on line and the infrastructure is in place, there is no indication that such will occur in the next few years.
6. The reasonable estimate for total is $3.6 billion but they believe that the program would cost much more. It is not feasible to do this program at the $1.5 billion "low-end" estimate by DWP.
7. At $3.6 billion, it is likely that the ECAF (pass through rate hikes) would have to be increased by 2.5 to 3 times (from 4 % per year max to 10 % to 12 % per year max) in order to maintain sufficient revenue flows to maintain bond coverage requirements and the department's bond ratings. This would be in addition to the base rate increases needed.
8. While it is reasonable to assert that some of the addition costs would be offset by jobs creation and economic development, no analysis has been done relative to the number and quality of jobs that will be created and the time-frame over which the jobs will be created.
9. Contracting out this work in the early years until the jobs are in place would be difficult if not impossible due to the size of the program and lack of availability of contractors and materials.
10. There is probably enough roof space to do this. However, no other utility is pursuing such an aggressive roof top program. PGE has the largest effort in the state, but the vast majority of theirs is solar thermal, which is expressly prohibited in the proposed ordinance and the labor reps are adamant about that not being included.
11. A program like this should not be undertaken until there is a thoroughly vetted approach for encouraging private property owners to participate and a secure supply/materials line. PGE has already entered into agreements with their suppliers for their materials. It should be assumed that it is unlikely that those suppliers could provide panels for the DWP's program.
12. The DWP does not have planning mechanisms and resources in place to accomplish this program, or for that matter, their entire 20 % by the 2010 requirement.
13. Due to the DWP's high vacant rate, reliability mandates and other issues, it does not appear the DWP has the capability to adequately take on this program.
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Our club is continuing to register voters. Please help. We will be registering at Topanga Plaza on February 14 & 15 from noon to 6:00 p.m. Call me OR use this website to sign up for a two hour shift. Actually, it’s fun to do. You are always paired up with another member.
It is ELECTION TIME again. Be sure to vote on March 3rd. It is discusting to read that there is only one viable for candidate for mayor. And they tell us that candidate is Antonio Villargaigosa!!! Well, that is not true. Former Republican (now an independent) WALTER MOORE has been campaigning for four years, and he has raised enough money to qualify for matching funds from the city. Another Mayoral candidate is Republican DAVID HERNANDEZ. His claim to fame is all the work he put in on trying to save the cross on the county seal. Go to latimes.com/lopezdebate and vote in favor of a mayoral debate between candidates.
OTHER REPUBLICANS RUNNING (that we know of)
City Attorney: CARMEN “NUCH” TRUTANICH
Controller: KATHLEEN “SUZIE” EVANS
City Council District 3: DENNIS ZINE
Board of Trustees seat 4: ROY BURNS (almost won last time)
Board of Trustees seat 6: JOSEF THOMAS ESSAVI
Board of Trustees Seat 7: KURT S. LOWREY
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Dear Nancy, (Nancy Eisenhart is our LACFRW President)
I just returned from the Republican National Committee meeting in Washington, D.C. While I was there, the new Congress was sworn in and with it, California's Republican delegation and its two new members, Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, and Congressman Tom McClintock.
Tom McClintock has been a powerful voice for conservative governance and maintaining our party as America's leading advocate for lower taxes, limited government, and protecting individual liberty and freedom. At a time when the Democrats control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, it's incredibly important for leaders like Tom to be in the Congress where they can help ensure our party returns to its core principles while offering a positive, alternative vision to where the Democrats want to take the country.
I was also pleased to see that on Tuesday Congressman Duncan D. Hunter was recognized by Politico as one of the members of the new freshman class to watch. A powerful segment of the Democratic Party wants to see America abandon its aggressive offensive strategy in the global war on terror, and the forthcoming debate will have a powerful advocate for strength in Congressman Hunter, himself a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy has joined the leadership team as the Chief Deputy Whip in the House, while Congressman Buck McKeon as the ranking member on the House Education and Labor Committee is on the front lines in the battle against Democrat plans to strip workers of their right to a secret ballot in unionization elections. Congressman Issa is now the leading Republican on the important oversight committee, while Congressmen Dreier and Lewis are the leading Republicans on Rules and appropriations.
In fact, members of our Republican delegation from California are in positions throughout the Congress to advocate for our ideas and articulate a Republican vision for the country.
For the latest information from the House Republican Conference, visit www.gop.gov
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In reviewing available topics for the monthly newsletter, California's State Budget crisis has become so common-place in the daily news cycle that it warrants a closer look.
During the past week, there has been a renewed effort to focus attention on the Budget's effect on public education. California's school system comprises 47% of the total budget and the California Teachers' Association initiated a statewide radio advertising campaign. These radio spots are airing on English, Spanish and Asian-language stations.
The ad decries Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut $10.8 billion from public education over the next 18 months. In addition. the CTA decries the Governor's proposal to effectively eliminate Proposition 98 ( a voter-approved school funding law which currently mandates an annual payout to California schools - approximately $7 billion) stating that these efforts will effectively maintain our state's ranking as the '47th in per pupil funding'.
The CTA and Democratic leaders have attempted to forestall any deep cuts in education and social services. Initiatives put forth by the teachers' association may find their way to the ballot in 2010 and would impose a one cent sales tax earmarked exclusively for the schools. Proponents say that "it is time to provide a stable, independent funding source for schools that cannot be cut by the Legislature and governor, cannot be withheld during a budget impasse and cannot be diverted to other uses".
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Our club will send several members to Sacramento for this activity. It is a great time to see the Capitol, meet Republican legislators, hear their concerns, and speak out yourself on issues.
“Advocacy” is put on each year by the California Federation of Republican Women (CFRW). This year they need to know by February 5th the names of members who actually want to go to the Capitol and lobby a bill. CFRW chooses the bill(s), gives you the background information in advance, and makes the appointments. Want to do it? You need to let MaryAnne Donat know right away if you do. Call her at 818 718-7421.
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INAUGURATED ON JANUARY 20,2009, OUR NEW PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense; and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." Said Obama in his Inauguration address.
“America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
And from your Editor, “Let us not be like the Democrats over the last eight years who had nothing nice to say about President Bush. Let us not be like the Democrats in Congress who would not even bring up to a vote any bill introduced by a Republican.
“Let us, instead, support our President. Let us applaud all the good things that he proposes. Let us let him know how we feel about issues. Let us help him in positive ways to see the Principles by which our Country can best succeed.”
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Executive orders are official documents, numbered consecutively, through which the President of the United States manages the operations of the Federal Government. They can be found at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/
George Bush issued a total of 282 Executive Orders during his Presidency. One of Bush’s recent controversial Executive Orders is as follows:
EXECUTIVE ORDER AFFECTS NATIONAL SECURITY WORKERS
by: Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post
December 3, 2008
President Bush signed a White House executive order that bars certain workers at five federal departments from joining a union because they are engaged in intelligence gathering, investigations and other national security work.
“ Offices covered by the order employ about 8,600 people within the Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation and Treasury departments. About 900 of them are Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives workers who have chosen to participate in collective bargaining and will lose their negotiated work rules, a White House spokesman said. Such rules typically cover working hours, scheduling and promotion procedures.
“ White House spokesman Scott M. Stanzel said President Bush signed the order Monday to reflect intelligence and homeland security agency reorganizations since he took office and "to make sure we are able to effectively carry out those primary functions that are vital to our national security."
“ Executive Order 12171, issued by President Jimmy Carter in the 1979, allows the president to exclude workers engaged in national security from the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program. Bush's order marked its 12th amendment.”
Predictably, the unions oppose this. Colleen M. Kelley, president of the NTEU, said ATF workers were stripped of labor rights for no justifiable reason, ATF employees "have had collective bargaining rights for more than 30 years and there is no indication that having those rights interfered with their mission before," She now vows to work with President-elect Barack Obama's administration to overturn Bush's order.
OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS IN THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF PRESIDENCY It is important to read all the words – not just go by the titles. You can see these in full at www.cpwhrwf.org . Do check them out.
1. Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities
2. Review of Detention Policy Options
3. Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
4. Treatment of Presidential Records
5. Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel. The following is a partial quote from this
Executive Order:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and sections 3301 and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Ethics Pledge. Every appointee in every executive agency appointed on or after January 20, 2009, shall sign, and upon signing shall be contractually committed to, the following pledge upon becoming an appointee:
"As a condition, and in consideration, of my employment in the United States Government in a position invested with the public trust, I commit myself to the following obligations, which I understand are binding on me and are enforceable under law:
"1. Lobbyist Gift Ban. I will not accept gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organizations for the duration of my service as an appointee.
"2. Revolving Door Ban All Appointees Entering Government. I will not for a period of 2 years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.
"3. Revolving Door Ban Lobbyists Entering Government. If I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years before the date of my appointment, in addition to abiding by the limitations of paragraph 2, I will not for a period of 2 years after the date of my appointment: ...........
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"4. Revolving Door Ban Appointees Leaving Government. …….
"5. Revolving Door Ban Appointees Leaving Government to Lobby.
"6. Employment Qualification Commitment. ……..
"7. Assent to Enforcement………
I understand that the terms of this pledge are in addition to any statutory or other legal restrictions applicable to me by virtue of Federal Government service."
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By JONATHAN WEISMAN, GREG HITT and NAFTALI BENDAVID
WALL STREET JOURNAL January 29, 2009
The House passed an $819 billion tax-and-spending bill Wednesday, in a recession-fighting effort that would extend the reach of the federal government across the U.S. economy by reshaping policy on energy, education, health care and social programs.
Although most of the money -- about $526 billion -- will be spent in 2009 and 2010, spending on some programs, including student-loan programs, clean-water projects and housing assistance, is expected to last well beyond the current recession. The House bill expands access to health care for the unemployed, represents perhaps the largest expansion of the federal government's role in education financing ever and begins what Mr. Obama has promised will be a push toward renewable energy that will continue throughout his presidential tenure.
Also tucked inside is $335 million for programs that help prevent sexually transmitted diseases, and $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. The Senate version includes $70 million for a supercomputer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $75 million for smoking-cessation programs.
The package, which would cost more than the entire Iraq War, would reverse the Bush administration's approach to boosting the economy. That approach relied heavily on tax cuts that tended to put money in the pockets of middle-class and more affluent Americans. The $275 billion in tax relief offered in the stimulus package focuses more on lower-income families. It also includes business incentives to spur job creation and a $500 payroll tax holiday for workers.
The 244-188 vote was not what Mr. Obama had hoped for. A week of presidential wooing -- including a visit to the Capitol, a return visit to the White House by moderate House Republicans and a bipartisan cocktail party Wednesday night -- did not yield a single Republican vote. The president also lost 11 Democrats.
House Republican leadership aides said the vote should force Democrats to compromise in the Senate, but White House aides were more sanguine. They said the package in the Senate has already moved toward Republican positions on key issues, making GOP votes more likely. Mr. Obama has said he wants a final compromise version by Feb. 13.
"The strategy under this bill is to throw billions of dollars in every bureaucratic direction, and cross our fingers and hope for the best," said Rep. Ken Calvert (R., Calif.) Wednesday during debate on the House floor.
Among the longstanding policy fights the bill weighs in on is whether to mandate that broadband cables controlled by telecommunications and cable firms be open to any Internet content provider; the House bill includes language favoring open access -- so-called net neutrality -- that telecoms have long opposed. It also secures an expansion of unemployment insurance for part-time workers that Democrats have sought for more than a decade. And it would push the private sector toward enterprises the free market has not favored, such as providing fast Internet access to rural areas and funding for alternative energy during a time of low energy prices.
In the education realm, the stimulus aims more than $125 billion at bolstering public education, an unusual federal intervention in a sphere usually left to state and local governments. It calls for spending $20 billion on school and college renovations. There's another $79 billion proposed for aid to the states to help them avoid education-related layoffs. In addition, more than $2 billion would go to the Head Start program, $13 billion to supplemental funding for high-poverty areas, and another $13 billion for special-education programs.
Then there is the cost. The deficit, already in record territory, would likely reach between 10% and 12% of the gross domestic product in 2009 and 2010, roughly double the previous peacetime record, according to projections by Decision Economics Inc., a New York economic forecasting firm. That's partly because of the sheer size of the package, but also the long-term nature of some of the programs.
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McConnell on Fox & Friends Regarding Stimulus Package
From NFRW Points Forward Week of January 26, 2009
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on Fox News program "Fox and Friends" Monday morning. The following are excerpts from the program:
On A Stimulus Package:
"..I think most of my members believe if you put money straight in the hands of individuals and businesses that will have a quicker stimulative effect than having the government spend it on projects, particularly ones that are likely to spend out in year three and year four."
On Republican Stimulus Proposals:
"We've been offering suggestions. If you want a quick answer to the question what would I do, I'd have a payroll tax holiday for a year or two. That would put taxes in the hands of everybody who has a job whether they pay income taxes or not. And, of course, businesses pay the payroll tax too, so it would be both a business tax cut and individual tax cut immediately. Number two, I would make the money to states a loan rather than a grant. Otherwise you're going to see a lot of mob museums and water slides. Everybody at the state level has been making their list and checking it twice, and we're going to end up with some very embarrassing expenditures."
On The Democrats' Trillion Dollar Spending Bill:
"Well the way it's looking in the House at least, a number of things bother me about it. I think it's probably going to fall well short of the mark of what the Speaker just said a year ago, the principle that ought to apply to stimulus, temporary, timely, targeted. A lot of this is going to spend out over a very lengthy period of time and not have much of an impact in the short term."
"I want to be open minded about it because we haven't actually drafted it in the Senate yet. I think the house package looks pretty bad."
On the President's Stimulus Proposal:
"We're looking at the substance of this, and at least the substance, as defined by the Congressional Democrats at the moment, seems to fall well short of what a stimulus package ought to be."
On The President's Desire for Republican Support on the Stimulus:
"Well I think the President would like to govern from the center. The question is whether the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate will let him. They have majorities in both the House and Senate. They're going to pull him to the left.
On The Democrats Saying The Economy Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better:
"Well I think there's a political goal there which is to make any kind of improvement, no matter how marginal, appreciated. And to make it look like the new administration got it done. It's a little bit like the rooster taking credit for the dawn. At some point this is going to get over with, and the issue in the short term is can we, the government, do something effective to help make that shorter?"
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On Friday, House Republican Leader John Boehner raised the alarm with the discovery that, buried in the trillion-dollar spending bill approved last week in the House Appropriations Committee was a provision for more than 4 billion dollars to go to "neighborhood stabilization activities."
Instead of providing these funds just to state and local governments, their bills says funds can go to "States, units of general local government, and nonprofit entities or consortia of nonprofit entities."
Why did the liberals who control the House Appropriations Committee slip that language into the bill? Because the "nonprofit entities" are units of ACORN.
Boehner noted that, "The House Democrats' trillion-dollar spending bill also includes $1 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Program." He then went on to point out that ACORN reports filed with the Office of Management and Budget shows that ACORN spent almost $1.6 million in federal taxpayer funds for the grants from 2003 through 2007. Now they are going to come back for more.
Boehner's analysis also shows that ACORN has been awarded more than $53 million in taxpayer dollars over the last several years. This amount does not reflect the millions more ACORN has received in federal block grant funds awarded to state and local agencies which passed them on to ACORN.
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In addition to finding students who qualify for a scholarship, we also have the opportunity to honor a teacher. CFRW Southern Division chairman Jeri Cowley tells us about the MY FAVORITE TEACHER award.
The purpose of the award is to acknowledge those outstanding teachers across America who have encouraged students to dream big. The "My Favorite Teacher" Award recognizes excellence in teaching and the impact that one good teacher can have on every individual. Each of us can name a teacher who has made a difference in our lives.
Criteria:
Nominees may be current or retired teachers, but must have taught for a minimum of five years. Nominees must be notified of their selection. Nominees may be nominated by a local club or by a state federation; applicants cannot nominate themselves.
The nominee may be male or female; no age limit; full time, part time or retired teacher; may teach in any school (public, private, parochial), any grade.
Want to nominate someone?
Let me know and we can work together on the application.
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