Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 28, 2010


To those of you without drunk'n Irish relatives...

(GOD BLESS 'EM!)

...I feel sorry for you!
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4 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/K-Street-goes-to-the-defense-of-Charlie-Rangel-1004040-99363214.html

In 2009, three-fourths of Rangel's $206 million in campaign spending went to legal fees.

Two of the three firms providing legal counsel to Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., in his pending ethics cases are lobbying firms. In fact, one firm, Oldaker, Belair & Wittie, conducts much of Rangel's political fundraising, while operating four different lobby shops.

[W]ho's ultimately paying Rangel's legal bills?

Mostly corporate and union political action committees along with individual lobbyists.

Over the past six months, PACs and lobbyists have accounted for a majority of the money Rangel's campaign has raised this year, not counting transfers from Rangel's other fundraising operations.

In turn, Rangel funnels his campaign cash into his legal defense.

(*SNORT*)

* THE WHOLE RANGEL OPERATION IS ONE ELABORATE KICK-BACK SCHEME.

July 28, 2010 at 9:21 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/116xx/doc11659/07-27_Debt_FiscalCrisis_Brief.pdf

Further increases in federal debt relative to the nation’s output (gross domestic product, or GDP) almost certainly lie ahead if current policies remain in place.

Unless policymakers restrain the growth of spending, increase revenues significantly as a share of GDP, or adopt some combination of those two approaches, growing budget deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levels.

* AS REGULAR READERS OF NEWSBITES ARE AWARE, WHAT OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS HAVE DONE IS TO RAISE THE "BASELINE" - IN OTHER WORDS, THEY'VE LOCKED IN INFLATED FUTURE COSTS OF GOVERNMENT BY PURPOSEFULLY GROWING GOVERNMENT.

[P]ersistent deficits and continually mounting debt would have several negative economic consequences for the United States. Some of those consequences would arise gradually: A growing portion of people’s savings would go to purchase government debt rather than toward investments in productive capital goods such as factories and computers; that “crowding out” of investment would lead to lower output and incomes than would otherwise occur. In addition, if the payment of interest on the extra debt was financed by imposing higher marginal tax rates, those rates would discourage work and saving and further reduce output. Rising interest Costs might also force reductions in spending on important government programs. Moreover, rising debt would increasingly restrict the ability of policymakers to use fiscal policy to respond to unexpected challenges, such as economic downturns or international crises.

* IN OTHER WORDS... OBAMA HAS F--KED US AND HE'S F--KED US GOOD!

* FOLKS. THE ENTIRE CBO REPORT IS ONLY EIGHT PAGES LONG. YOU COULD DO WORSE THAN SPEND TEN MINUTES READING IT IN ITS ENTIRETY.

July 28, 2010 at 11:41 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/07/28/sec-says-new-finreg-law-exempts-public-disclosure/?test=latestnews

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency...

* THE AGE OF OBAMA ROLLS ON...

[I]n touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."

* WELL... AS WITH MUCH OF WHAT OUR PRESIDENT SAYS... (*SHRUG*) (*SMIRK*)

If the SEC’s interpretation stands, [attorney Steven] Mintz, who represents FOX Business Network, predict[s] “the next time there is a Bernie Madoff failure the American public will not be able to obtain the SEC documents that describe the failure.”

The SEC first made its intention to block further FOIA requests known on Tuesday.

The SEC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

* WE'RE LOSING OUR COUNTRY, PEOPLE... PIECE BY PIECE WE'RE LOSING "OUR" AMERICA.

July 28, 2010 at 11:41 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-07-28-column28_ST1_N.htm

One of the major myths attached to the new health reform law is that it will lead to fewer emergency room visits. President Obama himself perpetuated this claim.

It's not terribly surprising that real data from Massachusetts, which has had universal health coverage since 2006, show otherwise.

From 2004 to 2008, ER visits in the Bay State rose by 9%, with no discernable improvement after 2006. Why? At least part of the reason has been the inability of patients to find primary care physicians for last-minute visits.

Let's face it: The ER won't turn you away, but individual and overburdened doctors can and will. The Massachusetts Medical Society has reported that new patients wait for a primary care doctor visit up to two months.

To make matters worse, 16 million more patients will be eligible for Medicaid by 2014, but doctors are limiting the number of such patients they see. Where will these patients go? You got it. The ER. (Medicare will soon have the same problem, as more than 70 million Baby Boomers begin to flood the system.)

Already, we don't have enough doctors. Indeed, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the U.S. will be 160,000 short by 2025. ERs, too, have downsized over time. A yearly survey by the American Hospital Association has shown a 10% decline in emergency departments from 1991 to 2008, despite an increasing demand for such care. So if we have depleted ERs, not enough doctors and millions of more patients, the math doesn't work.

* WELL... AS WE CAN SEE BY THE ECONOMY, MATH WAS NEVER A DEMOCRATIC PARTY STRONG POINT.

* FOLKS... WE'RE SO FRIGG'N SCREWED... (*SIGH*)

July 28, 2010 at 11:41 AM

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