The House is expected to approve today an $825 billion economic stimulus package.
Republicans Object to Stimulus Dollars for ACORN
Republicans say voter registration and community groups like ACORN could be eligible for funding under the Democrats’ economic stimulus bill.
FOX News
Republican lawmakers are raising concerns that ACORN, the low-income advocacy group under investigation for voter registration fraud, could be eligible for billions in aid from the economic stimulus proposal working its way through the House.
House Republican Leader John Boehner issued a statement over the weekend noting that the stimulus bill wending its way through Congress provides $4.19 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities.”
He said the money was previously limited to state and local governments, but that Democrats now want part of it to be available to non-profit entities. That means groups like ACORN would be eligible for a portion of the funds.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told FOX News Tuesday that the money could be seen as “payoff” for groups’ political activities in the last election. ACORN generally supports Democratic candidates and actively backed President Obama last year.
But he said the funding is just one example of frivolous spending items in the $825 billion package.
“It’s just a long list of spending items. Not a real economic stimulus job creation bill,” Vitter said. “It’s line after line after line of favorite liberal spending programs, and it amounts to a big government bill — not a job creation bill.”
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The Pelosi-Obey Stimulus bill includes $358 billion in spending under the Appropriations Committee’s jurisdiction. When combined with new spending that will be considered by the Ways and Means Committee, the estimated cost of all spending will reach more than $550 billion. Additionally, there is an estimated$,275 billion tax component, which will bring the total cost of the bill to $825 billion.
http://mack.house.gov/_files/StimulusSummary2009.pdf
Summary of spending by Appropriations Subcommittee:
Agriculture: $26.863 billion
$19.99 billion in mandatory spending for the Food Stamp program.
$5.13 billion for rural grant and loan programs, including programs to support broadband deployment, the Rural Business Cooperative Service, housing insurance, water and waste programs, and community facilities.
$726 million for the after-school snack program.
$253 million for the Department’s building and facility repairs.
$345 million for information technology improvements.
$400 million for watershed flood prevention and rehabilitation.
$23 million for the Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
Commerce, Justice, Science: $14.191 billion
$6.575 billion for the Department of Commerce, including $3.175 billion for broadband mapping and for the deployment of wireless and broadband technology to unserved areas,
$ 1 billion for unspecified activities related to the 2010 Decennial Census,
$650 million for additional Digital TV transition coupons, $1 billion for NOAA climate satellite and habitat restoration programs,
$500 million for NIST research, construction and manufacturing support pÍograms, and $250 million for economic development assistance grants.
$4.00 billion for the Department of Justice for grant assistance to State and local law enforcement, including
$3 billion for the Byrne/JAG formula grant program
and $l billion for COPS Hiring grants.
$600 million for NASA, including $400 million for Science to accelerate the highest priority Earth Science missions, $150 million for aeronautics research and
$50 million for hurricane-related construction projects at NASA centers.
$3 billion for the National Science Foundation, including $2 billion for research grants,
$300 million for research instrumentation grants,
$200 million for academic research facilities renovation grants,
$400 million for major research equipment and facilities projects,
$100 million for science education programs.
$ 16 million for the Inspectors General of the Department of Commerce, Justice, NASA, and the National Science Foundation to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
Defense:
$4.865 billion
$4.5 billion for sustainment, maintenance, and repair of Department of Defense facilities.
$350 million for research, development, test and evaluation, including pilot projects, for improvements in energy generation, transmission, regulation, storage, and use on military installations.
$15 million for the Department of Defense’s Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
Energy and Water:
$48.915 billion
$5 billion for water projects, including $4.5 billion for the Army Corps of
Engineers for repairs and upgrades to levees and dams and $500 million for the Bureau of Reclamation for drinking water supply, water reuse, and water recycling projects.
537.4 billion for energy projects, including the following:
1. $2 billion for research related to renewable energy and energy effrciency,
2. $500 million for an industrial waste energy recovery incentive program,
3. $ 1.5 billion for grants to institutions to identify, design, and implement sustainable energy proj ects,
4. $6.2 billion through the’WeatherizationAssistance Program to assist lowincome families in reducing energy costs,
5. $3.5 billion for Energy Effrciency and Conservation Block Grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to reduce fossil fuel emissions,
6. $3.4 billion for the State Energy Program to provide grants to state energy offrces,
7. $200 million for Transportation Electrification Program to move the transportation sector toward clean energy sources,
8. $300 million to provide rebates to residential customers for the purchase of energy efficient appliances,
9. $400 million for a pilot programthat will allow state and local governments to acquire alternative fueled vehicles,
10. $2 billion for facilities to support the manufacturing of advanced vehicle batteries,
1 1. $4.5 billion to support research and development, pilot projects, and federal matching funds for the Smart Grid Investment Program to modernize the country’s electric grid,
12. $8 billion for a new loan guarantee program for renewable energy and electric power transmission systems,
13.52.4 billion for carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects,
14. 52 billion for capital improvements at Department of Energy labs and facilities, and for advanced research projects, and
15. $500 million for to accelerate ongoing nuclear waste cleanup.
$6.5 billion in additional borrowing authority for the Western Area Power Administration and the Bonneville Power Administration.
$15 million for the Department of Energy’s Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations of these programs, but no new funds are provided to conduct audits and investigations of the Corps of Engineers’ projects. Financial Services: $8.755 billion
$430 million for subsidy and administrative costs of small business loans.
$600 million to replace a portion of the Federal vehicle fleet with alternative fuel vehicles.
$7.7 billion for construction and repairs of Federal buildings, with $6 billion dedicated to projects focused on energy-efficiency and conservation and $1 billion for ports of entry.
$25 million for the Inspectors General of the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
Homeland Security: $1.102 billion
$100 million for non-intrusive Customs and Border Protection inspection equipment,
$150 million for construction at land ports of entry.
$500 million for Explosive Detection System installation and procurement and Airport Checkpoint Technolo gies.
$150 million for the Coast Guard for alteration of bridges.
$200 million for Emergency Food and Shelter. (FY08 – $153 million)
$2 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General to conduct audits and oversight of these programs.
Interior: $15.010 billion
$8 billion for state revolving funds for clean water and drinking water.
$1 billion for clean-up of Superfund sites and leaking underground storage tanks.
$4.375 billion for construction, capital improvements, and revitalization projects of the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Indian Health Service.
$850 million for wildhrehazard reduction, including on Federal lands.
$300 million for grants and loans to states and local governments to reduce diesel emissions (DERA).
$200 million for repair and restoration of science facilities and scientific equipment of the US Geological Survey.
$100 million for the Brownfields program to address site assessment and cleanup.
$100 million for facility repairs and modernization of programs through the National Park Service Centennial Challenge grants.
$50 million for grants through the National Endowment for the Arts.
$35 million for the Inspectors General of the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Labor-HHS: $171.363 billion
$4 billion for worker training, including $1.2 billion for a new program for youth summer jobs, $50 million for Youthbuild, and
$750 million for green jobs, healthcare, and emerging industry training grants.
$120 million to employ older Americans in community service.
$500 million for state employment service and reemployment grants.
$80 million to ensure infrastructure projects funded in the bill comply with worþlace safety re gulations.
$300 million to construct Job Corps facilities.
$1.5 billion for community health centers, including $1 billion for construction and renovation of existing facilities.
$88 million to replace HRSA’s headquarters facility.
$600 million to subsidizetraining for primary care workers, including doctors, nurses and dentists.
$462 million to continue replacing CDC facilities.
$1.5 billion for university research facility construction through NIH.
$500 million for construction of NlH-owned facilities.
$ 1.5 billion for NIH research.
$ I .l billion for comparative effectiveness research.
$1 billion for LIHEAP for fiscal year 2010.
$2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant.
$2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start.
$1 billion for the Community Services Block Grant.
$100 million for the Compassion Capital Fund.
$200 million for senior citizen nutrition programs such as Meals on Wheels.
$3 billion for a new prevention and wellness fund.
$2 billion to modernize electronic health records.
$900 million for Project Bioshield.
$13 billion for formula grants to school districts.
$100 million for school construction in school districts heavily impacted by Federal or tribal lands on which they cannot collect property taxes.
$1 billion for education technology in elementary and secondary schools.
$66 million for education for homeless children and youth.
$200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund.
$25 million for construction loans to charter schools.
$13 billion for special education state grants.
$600 million for special education programs for infants and families.
$500 million for vocational and rehabilitation state grants’
$200 million for centers for independent living.
$15.6 billion for Pell grants.
$490 million for college work-study grants.
$50 million for student aid administration.
$100 million for teacher quality grants to institutions of higher education.
$250 million for statewide education data systems.
$14 billion for construction of elementary and secondary schools.
$6 billion for construction of facilities at colleges and universities.
$200 million to pay Americorps volunteers.
$900 million to reduce the Social Security disability case backlog and construct a new computing center for the agency.
$39 billion for state and local education agencies’
$15 billion to reward schools that have made progress in meeting No Child Left Behind standards.
$25 billion for other state and local government functions (including education).
$42 million for the Inspectors General of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, as well as the Social Security Administration and the Corporation for National and Community Service, to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
. Military Construction – Veterans: $7.001 billion
$6 billion for military construction projects, including base housing, child development centers, hospitals and ambulatory care centers, construction projects to support Guard and Reserve units across the country, and clean-up activities related to base closures.
$1 billion for maintenance of veterans’ medical centers and national cemeteries.
$l million for the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
State-Foreign Operations: $0.500 billion
$224 million to rehabilitate the Rio Grande Flood Control System and meet water quality and capacity requirements of the Colorado River Boundary and Capacity Preservation project.
$276 million to improve information technology, including cybersecurity enhancements.
No funds provided for the Department of State’s Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
Transportation-HUD: $59.485billion
$30 billion for federal highway projects, including
$300 million for roads on Indian reservations,
$250 million for park roads,
$20 million for on the job training,
$20 million for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise bonding,
$60 million for administration,
$29.35 billion to the States.
$6 billion for transit capital assistance grants for vehicle acquisition and facility construction.
$300 million for intercity rail programs.
$800 million for Amtrak for capital infrastructure improvements.
$1 billion for capital investment grants for new transit projects.
$2 billion to rehabilitate existing transit systems.
$3 billion for airport improvement projects.
$5 billion for repair and construction projects in public housing units.
$2.5 billion to renovate and retrofit federally-assisted housing units to make them more energy efficient.
$l.5 billion for emergency shelter grants.
$500 million to renovate and retrofit Native American housing units.
$l billion for Community Development Block Grants.
$4.19 billion for the Neighborhood StabilizationProgram for local communities to purchase and rehabilitate vacant housing.
$1.5 billion for the HOME program to rehabilitate and construct housing, as well as fill financing gaps.
$10 million for nonprofit housing organizations to develop or rehabilitate lowincome housing.
$100 million to address lead-based paint threats in public housing.
$50 million, which will allow loan limits to be raised in subareas, if warranted.
$35 million for the Inspectors General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation to conduct audits and investigations of these programs.
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Boehner to GOP: Vote against stimulus
Politico
The nitpicking took its toll, and Obama on Monday privately urged House Democrats to remove a notable flash point: funds for contraception that had been defended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on national television just a day before. The Democrats agreed.
Loath to criticize a president who enjoys stratospheric approval ratings and the good tidings of most Americans, Republicans on the Hill are instead framing their overwhelming opposition to the stimulus bill as a vote against a congressional Democratic leadership that is far less popular than Obama.
“It’s not so much his effort, it’s what the House has done with this bill, what Pelosi has done with this bill,” explained Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), a veteran member of the Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a young conservative firebrand, was more blunt when asked what happened to Obama’s honeymoon: “Ask Pelosi.”
Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), a senior appropriator, said that “several people” registered complaints to Obama that the GOP had not been consulted in the development of the bills now being marked up in the Finance and Appropriations committees.
The committees “were run without Republican participation, the Appropriations bill had things in my subcommittee part that we never saw or had anything to say about. We have been shut out.”
Not all Republicans will say the honeymoon is over, but rather that it’s Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders who are doing their best to turn on the cold shower.
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Wild Thing’s comment……..
I read each one of them.
What a bunch of BS and if they think this list is going to stimulate anything close to jobs and helping the economy they have totally lost their minds. OH wait they have lost their minds we are talking about Pelosi and her gang and Obama their leader, their Commrade!
This thing is packed with pork! INSANITY!!!! And get this, now they are printing more money to do this with. OMG this is so dangerous what they are doing.
$726 million for after school snacks. Wow, is that going to create jobs?????
$200 MILLION for sod for the Mall? There is NO WAY that it would cost a tenth that much. Oh wait, we’re talking about the federal government where Obama is going to hire 2,000 people and pay them $50,000 each to put down ONE piece of sod each.
Democratic stimulus package would provide up to a whopping $5.2 billion for ACORN!!! HO-bama’s favorite. Most of the money is secreted away under an item in the now $836 billion package titled “Neighborhood Stabilization Programs.”
From Rush:
“If Obama can co-opt McConnell and a number of Republicans in the Senate to go along with him on this, then when this economy blows up, they’re on record with Obama as being responsible. This is why it’s crucial that the Republicans hold out. Because Obama doesn’t need a single Republican vote in the House to get what he wants, and he only needs a couple in the Senate, and that couple is just to break cloture.”
Barney Frank — who helped cause this meltdown by forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans that’d never be paid — says Obama’s mandate is to control businesses, because conservative economics of letting the market work have demonstrably failed. This is totally backwards.”
Hello inflation. This is a wild spending spree by the Democrats. “Oh Boy. we are in charge and we are going to write blank checks to pay off all our supporters”. The government will just print more money to pay the bills. Hell, that’s what Mugabe does in Zimbabwe.
Soon, the Dollar will be replaced with another currency as the World’s primary valuation measure. Probably the Euro, though that is not so stable either. Maybe the best currency in Ameica will be ammo.
What the heck does flood control have to do
with veterans?This loose goose wanna be an
his flock needs a good whippin!!!!
This is what the Republican need to learn. How to cheat, lie and steal. Especially, elections. The democrats have this down to a science. Look at Minnesota, Norm Coleman had the race won by almost 800 votes. The dems pulled out all the stops and conjured up enough votes to give the election to Franken.
Why weren’t all the votes counted on election day, why were some boxes of votes secretly hidden in certain peoples trunks until …Viola…Missing votes show up and throw the election to the democrat. The only answer I can come up with is they were made up ahead of the election, just in case, Franken lost, and then, the missing votes magically appear.
These boxes of missing vote didn’t just appear from one precinct but from all over the area of the state that was primarily democrat…
Truly, as a people, We the American People have been had. The cost is not yet known. But what we are going to learn from our lack of attentiveness is our Liberty has also been stolen.
The democrats always use the word freedom and seldom use the word Liberty. The word Liberty scares them because it means certain exclusive priviledges, may be excercised as spelled out in our (not often read) Bill of Rights without interferrence from the government. Without the government, the democrats have no compass. Even now obama and the democrats are trying to restrict those rights. Especially, free speech and how we think and turn certain thoughts into ‘hate-crimes’.
Our Leaders, for what it is worth at this point, we really have no leaders, had better stand up soon or there will be nothing to stand up for.
They’re pushing the 1933 agenda all over again, this time pushing 40 years of past failures into this year, bankruptcy doesn’t matter to them, soon nobody will invest in our system, goods or otherwise. Look at the demise of the former Soviet Union and East Germany, look at today’s North Korea for Socialist-Communist success stories. How soon we have forgotten the destructive double digit inflation of the ’70’s, the gas rationing and the ‘wage and price freeze” wage freeze. All this because speculators inflated values and pyramided the systems to hold them up. Let it fall then start over, quit propping up failure. Ghost towns are reminders of systems that failed because there were no means to sustain their existence. Those people moved on and started over somewhere else. Some of those reading here have had to relocate and start over because of economic conditions, it would never have happened without that incentive. There are no incentives to succeed in today’s society and it will only get worse under Socialism.
The country is stuck on STUPID!
Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme – cost $50B
Bush/Congress TARP Ponzi Scheme – cost $700B
Obama/Democratic Party Economic Stimulus Ponzi Scheme – cost $825B
Those who cannot learn from Ponzi schemes are doomed to fall for them again.
Again, in 1929-1930, President Hoover loaned $12 million to the needy – that didn’t have collateral – and the banks closed one after another! In Detroit today on FOX the houses were selling for $1 near the Chrysler Plant, and Victorian mansions were going for $100,000!
Let’s hear it for ILLINOIS Wild Thing. Now I know why the BEARS hibernate in CAVES!!
And now the house passed the damn “stimulus” bill I mean I’m pleased that no Republicans voted for it but, It’s times like these where my optimism fails me and makes me wonder what is the f*cking point in caring? Why should I even give a rat’s ass since it seems nobody else does? Obama and the dems are still gong to curry favor with their contituent contributors and call guys like me “baby killers” and the people now seem so stupid that they’re just going to go along with it. THIS is the kind of ranting people get when I lose my optimistic nature. I could go on but I don’t have the space. I am trully sorry for ranting like this.
Just for the record, I HATE pessimism, I HATE doom and gloom mindsets, I HATE people who say it’s too late, I HATE the usual predictions so called “experts” make. It is just so frustrating. And on top of all of what is going on, I still have an Immense Love for my Country. Isn’t that wierd?
Tom, that is just what it is….”wild spending spree”. Good way to put it too……”we are in charge and we are going to write blank checks to pay off all our supporters”
I agree to about the ammo.
This is all living a nightmare. I pray God gives our country another chance and helps us not to be destroyed completely.
Chief, your right, they sure do. The list is totally crazy and how on earth is almost all of it helping business owners, big or small that do the hiring and stay in business.
They have free reign now and it a reign of terror.
Mark, every word you said a HUGE ditto too.
Jack, that is all so true.
I agree too that the left wants to take the incentives away, they want everyone dependent on government. It is so stupid because the better a person does the more taxes they do end up paying even those that get breaks still pay a ton of taxes.
Les,your right, today Nicholas mentioned how we have learned a new word and “Ponzi” is the one he mentioned.
Darth, WOW oh my gosh, that is so sad. Thanks for the information Darth.
Yes Bears and their caves are still ok. They better not mess with my Bears.
JohnE PFC U.S. Army, AMEN to all you said. I can’t be around pessimism, and there is a difference in great concern and pessimism. I think everyone of us is feeling tremendous concern but we all love America with all our hearts and know we have to fight back. It just began all this Obamafreak stuff and we will have a plan. It just takes some time to get one together and then have everyone get on board with it.
I heard Rush discussing this same thing. He said it might take a year or within this year but there will be a plan and we can all fight back and take the majority again and hopefully the White House too.
Meanwhile I pray Obama ticks off his own side enough so the media at least start to question him.
Thank you for all you do JohnE.
Wild Thing, thanks that really means a lot. I also heard O’Reilly talking about two things: If and when this thing blows up in obama’s face and if and when we get attacked because of obama’s pre-9/11 mentality his presidency is caput. O’Reilly can be a real schmuck but I think he made a good point on this.
P.S. One of my buddies in afghanistan got some leave to come home for a bit so I’m very glad about that.