IRAQ SURPLUSES SWELL AS U.S. DEBT SOARS

It's 2003 and the U.S. invades Iraq and ousts Saddam Hussein. A heinous madman has been deposed, and Iraqis have a chance at freedom. Thanks to the U.S. and our military.

So what has this war cost us? Well, Folks, these are the facts.

Since 2003 the U.S. has infused more than half a trillion dollars into Iraq.

From 2004-2009 Iraq amassed a surplus of $52.1 billion, with over 92% of its revenues coming from oil exports, some of which WE import and pay Iraq for. During that same period overall U.S. debt soared as we ran huge deficits in every one of those years.

The U.S. has spent $624 billion in Iraq helping the Iraqis set up a democratic government. Sounds humanitarian, doesn't it? And wouldn't you think that since Iraq has a huge budget surplus they'd be PAYING us for our help? Or at least providing us with oil free of charge?

But not so. On July 29 the U. S. Congress approved an additional $1 billion in "emergency" aid to the Iraqi government, and Obama is seeking yet another $2 billion in his fiscal 2011 budget, as reported by CNS News.

Our Government Accountability Office (GAO) has disclosed that the Iraqi government holds as much as $32.2 billion in cash on deposit at banks and financial institutions. The GAO stated in its audit report that "Congress should consider Iraq's available financial resources when it reviews the administration's fiscal 2011 budget request and future budget requests for additional funds to train and equip Iraqi security forces."

That sure makes sense, doesn't it? They have the money so why can't they COVER OUR COSTS or even PAY US TO BE THERE? Or send us home? Instead we are supporting billionaires while we are going bankrupt.

According to the CBO, the U. S. budget deficit exceeded $1.3 trillion for fiscal 2010, the second greatest deficit as a percent of GDP since WWII. The greatest deficit ever? 2009's $1.4 trillion.

Whether you believe we should have gone to Iraq or not, Obama's election promise was to end the war in Iraq and stop the bleeding of our resources. So far all he's done is ask for MORE money, and he's changed the verbiage of our mission there, going from "military mission" to "non-combat mission." But ask troops who are still there if their "mission" has changed.

Obama must think Americans are thick minded. That's a mistake he will regret in November.

And just so you know, I gripped at Bush about this situation also. Bush did the same thing, continued to spend money in Iraq while they gathered up a huge surplus. Both administrations are at fault. But Obama SAID he'd end it, and he hasn't. Bush never promised to end it.

EDUCATION SLUSH FUND

Today Sen. Tom Coburn released a report he compiled called "School House Pork." In the report he stated that lawmakers have secured 5,563 earmarks worth $2.3 billion over the past decade for "education projects." The report states that the federal education programs have been compromised by political interests and are overrun with "education pork."

Allocated money often went to school districts with the best lobbyists. The BEST LOBBYISTS? Good Grief, has everyone in government, including education, completely lost their minds? How absurd for school districts to be using our tax dollars to lobby our government to receive more of our tax dollars.

WELL, I THINK THEY ARE ALL NUTS! Here are some examples of where the Education Slush Fund has spent money. Hang on to your seats, Folks, because this is just a drop in the Great Government Oinker Bucket.

Las Vegas - a school district received a $25,000 earmark for a mariachi music program. HUH?

Jackson State University - a $478,941 earmark to study the creation of a school of osteopathic medicine. But here's the fact. A local newspaper reported that the commissioner of higher education in Mississippi had "no intention" of opening an osteopathic school. REAL SMART

Central Washington University - a $191,593 earmark for "curriculum development" to develop a curriculum based on local wines. LEARN HOW TO DRINK IN COLLEGE!

More than $181 million in earmarks for programs and projects that would bear the name of the lawmaker who introduced the earmark.

This included $1.9 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service. (He's the congressman who's been accused of multiple ethics violations and is currently under investigation).

Two earmarks worth more than $19 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate. (He's the senator who murdered Mary Jo Kopechne by allowing her to drown in his car when they went off a bridge on Martha's Vineyard after a night of drinking. So his wife wouldn't find out about his unfaithfulness and his political career wouldn't be destroyed, he left the scene of the accident instead of getting help and saving her life. And he didn't even report the accident until the next morning. Oh, yes, it was all covered up. And he remained in the Senate for his entire life.)

$2.4 million for the Lott Leadership Institute named after former Sen. Trent Lott.

$10 million for the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center named after Sen. Strom Thurmond. (Strom Thurmond was a staunch racist and made a lifetime career out of the Senate. His "political career" is great testimony to the need for term limits.)

$2.7 million for 15 earmarks that went to zoos, including a total of $1 million for the Philadelphia Zoo. Hey, go to Philly to visit YOUR zoo. You own part of it!

National Baseball Hall of Fame got $450,000, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame got $200,000, the National Aviation Hall of Fame got $600,000. (All private enterprises.)

$273,000 for a program in Blue Springs, MO aimed at fighting Goth culture.

Over $5 million went to the Andre Agassi College Prep Academy.

Abuse of the Education Slush Fund ensnares and encompasses lawmakers from both parties. All the more reason to throw out the long term incumbents who've been part of this ongoing scam.

But in Washington the Dems want to raise taxes to support their spending.

I say the first thing they need to do is STOP the WASTE and QUIT SPENDING.

YOU'RE FIRED, ALL OF YOU!!!

Health Care Spending Fraud by CBO

Saw this information on a Spending Revolt website and thought I'd share it.

"CBO reveals health care spending increase…five months late.
September 3, 2010 by Spending Revolt

During the recent federal health care debate, one of the biggest disagreements was over whether the legislation would reduce the deficit. Democrats argued, using analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, that it would. Republicans argued that those “scores” had been gamed with unrealistic provisions that would not be implemented. This focus on the deficit missed an important question: how would the bill affect spending and taxes, rather than just the net effect?

Recently, CBO revealed that the health care legislation, as written, will increase entitlement spending by $401 billion and increase taxes by $525 billion over the next 10 years. i.e. it significantly expands the size of government. During the debate (when it really mattered), CBO only reported that the net effect would be a reduction in the deficit.

As Keith Hennessey points out, this new report “gives us the complete picture five months late.” For some reason, in CBO’s initial analysis, they combined spending and taxes into a single number and reported the net effect. Because of the way they presented information, it was impossible to pull out their estimates of increased spending.

Hennessey speculates that someone leaned on CBO. They “had this information last March but they buried it…I would bet heavily that CBO was pressured.” CBO analysts have a tough job and we may never know why they did or did not include certain information. One thing is certain: it would have added to the debate if CBO had revealed five months ago that the “Affordable Care Act” will increase spending by almost half a trillion dollars."

That's the article. Do any of you remember when the head of the CBO was called into Obama's White House office for a pow wow? And right after that the CBO revised their cost figures downward? And that helped Obamacare get shoved through Congress?

It was a lie and fraud then, and it remains a lie and fraud now. Wonder what Obama had to give the head of the CBO to "buy" his cooperation?

OBAMA SENDS MILLIONS IN FOREIGN AID TO OUR ENEMIES

Here is an example of what the Obama administration has approved in foreign aid. This is from a summary of a report issued by David Obey, D-WI, who is on the Appropriations committee. Mr. Obey has control over how this money is spent. A summary was quietly released by Obey's office last week without a word from any media.

$3.6 billion to expand and improve Afghan security forces

$400 million (requested amount) to improve Pakistani security forces (they hate us)

$1.52 billion as a straight up payment to Afghanistan ($86 million above the requested amount)

$665 million for security assistance in the West Bank and Gaza (Gaza=Hamas) (They hate us)

$250 million to Jordan for economic assistance ($250 million above requested amount) (Aren't they an oil producer?)

$360 million to Egypt ($310 million above requested amount) to expand over-site capacity of the State Department (What in the heck does that mean?)

$74 million to Lebanon for undisclosed purpose (They hate us)

$343 million ($50 million above requested amount) for humanitarian assistance for Gaza (Remember, Gaza=Hamas) (They want us dead)

$200 million for natural disasters for Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Middle East and South Asia (While 3/4 of the homes destroyed by Katrina in New Orleans are still not repaired and no one is living in them. WE HAVE OUR OWN NATURAL DISASTERS TO DEAL WITH!)

$837 million to the United Nations for "peacekeeping operations." Much of this money will likely end up in the hands of UN upper management personnel. Check it out. The UN is as corrupt as many of the nations it allegedly serves.

$17 million for the Iraqi criminal justice system (Another oil rich nation)

Check this information at the following site:

www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp

Would it help to beg him to spend these dollars here putting Americans back to work? I doubt it .

November is fast arriving.

Vote, Vote, Vote

IT'S A PRIVILEGE, IT'S A RIGHT, IT'S YOUR DUTY!

Will Work For Food - A Job Please?

This morning the jobless report came out - another 500,000 first time claims were filed last week. I thought the Stimulus Bill was supposed to solve the jobless issue? But let's look at the stats. 18 months ago the Stimulus Bill passed at a cool $787 billion, but including interest on that debt the total comes to over one trillion dollars. 18 months later this is what we have: Unemployment hovering at 9.6%; around 7 million unemployed for 6 months of longer; 17 states have unemployment over 10%; around 4 million jobs lost since the Stimulus Bill was signed; 21% of homes in America are underwater with more owed than they are worth; 27 million are underemployed; home prices are down anywhere from 30-50% depending on where they are located; and Obama has spent even more - 34 billion on extending unemployment; 26 billion bailing out teachers and unions; 3 billion for home mortgage help and a myriad of other spending bills that have driven our debt over 10 trillion. And unemployment is still at 9.6%.

I would like to tell Obama and crew, IT'S NOT WORKING! STOP SPENDING!!

But then, I'm just an American citizen. Why would they listen to anything I have to say?

States Get Bailed Out

Pelosi/Obama called all Congressmen home yesterday from their August recess so they could vote on a bill to bail out the state employees unions. This is just the beginning of the state bail outs by the feds. The $26 billion dollar bill passed Congress with the voting along party lines, all Dems for it, all Reps against it. It's nothing more than another pay off to the unions because most of this money will go to teachers' unions and public employee unions. The money will end up in the hands of unions through union dues, then the unions will take the money and continue to buy elections through contributions to candidates and running attack ads. So we are paying to elect whomever the unions want elected.

Why should we have to pay for states who have been big spenders and have been unable to control their debt? Under that theory it makes no sense for ANY state to be fiscally responsible when Washington will just cover the bill. How Stupid Are They in Washington?

It's a Cash For Democrats Relection Program at our expense. It is such a scam and is helping to further shove us off the Debt Cliff into oblivion with no way out. And it's just the beginning. The other states will not come calling, and as long as the Dems are in control they will never say no. VOTE IN NOVEMBER, IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT VOTE OF YOUR LIFE!

And how much do you think it cost to have over 500 Congressmen fly back to Washington for this one vote? But who's counting, certainly not Pelosi/Obama and Crowd.

The Refinance Train Wreck

Just in time for the November elections, Obama has proposed to "refinance" 15 million mortgages that are currently under water. Cost? 800 billion dollars. Also contained within the proposal is a plan to relax qualifying standards for home loans so people who don't qualify suddenly qualify. Isn't that what got us into the current housing mess?

I believe the American public is too smart to fall for this. Nothing is "free." The fun and games must end. Someone has to pay for this, and it won't be the "rich," it will be our kids and grandkids. This is a carrot being dangled in front of you, but it will enslave future generations to outrageous taxes. It's a slow motion train wreck waiting for the crash, and the crash is guaranteed to happen. Don't Fall For This At Election Time! Please!!

Medicare Fraud and Obamacare

According to a report out of Washington, (Associated Press) Medicare had $835 million in questionable payments in 2007. In 2009 the fraud identified in Medicare was $36 billion. Quite a hike, don't you think? Is that Bush oversite versus Obama oversite?

Medicare now hires independent contractors to ferret out fraud, and pays them well over $100 million per year to find it. Yet the contractors find only about 5-7% of the ongoing fraud. Isn't this just like the government? Hire ineffective companies to find the fraud, and then don't bother making sure the companies you hire are doing a satisfactory job. Just keep on paying them and paying them for sloppy results. And this is the government that is going to run our health care system.