Thursday, August 4, 2011
Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, August 4, 2011
First... let's get ol' Bill's blood pressure under control...
(*SMILE*)
Now... just a quick (rhetorical) question:
Is there anyone reading this who hasn't noticed that ever since the Budget (Out Of) Control Act of 2011 was passed by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by the President that... well... now... the entire mainstream media seems fixated upon pointing out that the bill is basically a fraud which cuts nothing, is unenforceable upon future congresses, and simply kicks the can down the road past the next election?
Yeah, folks... maybe I sound like a broken record... but unlike all these folks who get paid to write the news and give their opinions, I "report" the truth day in and day out and don't attempt to manipulate my readers.
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http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/taxpayers-cover-obama-bus-tour-midwest-b
* AS REGULARS KNOW, I TEND TO SHY AWAY FROM CNS NEWS STORIES - NOT BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE THEM, BUT BECAUSE I KNOW READERS ARE MORE COMFORTABLE WITH "MAINSTREAM" REPORTING. THAT SAID... IT SEEMS THAT CNS IS THE ONLY NEWS ORGANIZATION BEING UPFRONT ABOUT WHO IS BEARING THE COST OF OBAMA'S LATEST POLITICKING.
President Barack Obama’s upcoming bus tour through the Midwest states typically viewed as swing states during presidential election years will be paid for by the taxpayers, the White House says.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Obama will start the tour on Aug. 15 and will talk about strengthening jobs and the economy, the White House announced on Tuesday.
* SURE SOUNDS LIKE A CAMPAIGN TOUR - A TAXPAYER PROVIDED - CAMPAIGN TOUR (THRU SWING STATES) TO ME!
CNSNews.com asked Carney, “Is that a campaign event or a presidential event?
Carney answered, “Negative. That is an official event.”
CNSNews.com followed, “So it is being funded by taxpayers in battleground states?”
Carney responded, “He’s the president of the United States.”
* FOLKS...!?!?! (*THROWING UP MY HANDS*)
The generally accepted policies in place since the Reagan administration for incumbent presidents running for re-election are based on legal opinions from the Department of Justice and Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which say that taxpayers should cover the cost of official presidential travel while travel relating to the campaign will be reimbursed to the government through campaign funds.
* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... THEY DON'T EVEN PRETEND TO ABIDE BY THE LAW.
http://static.usnews.com/documents/whispers/8-2-11-31-days-updated.pdf
* JUST TAKE A LOOK...
(*SIGH*)
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/blogs?blogID=greg-hinz&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&uid=1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35c&plckPostId=Blog:1daca073-2eab-468e-9f19-ec177090a35cPost:eb77893c-c97f-432a-9e10-e1a34923d106&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest
There's nothing like a good ol' Chicago coincidence.
I mean, those marvelous situations in which connected people and groups always seem to have a lucky shamrock in their pocket at just the right time are a distinctive part of what makes Chicago, well, Chicago.
Which leads to a tale of one particularly wonderful coincidence. It involves After School Matters, a charity that provides programs for teenagers; Chicago mayors current and past, and a $6.5-million city grant.
As I reported last week, ex-mayoral Chief of Staff Ray Orozco and former Department of Cultural Affairs Acting Commissioner Katherine LaMantia began new jobs on July 25 as the CEO and chief financial officer, respectively, of After School Matters.
* HMM... I WONDER WHAT THEIR RESPECTIVE SALARIES ARE? I WONDER WHAT KIND OF PERKS AND BENEFITS THEY RECEIVE? I WONDER WHAT CONTROLS AND/OR LIMITS THERE ARE ON THEIR EXPENSE ACCOUNTS...??? (*SMIRK*)
The agency - chaired by Maggie Daley, wife of former Mayor Richard M. Daley - for years has been known informally as the unofficial City Hall charity.
In further researching the Orozco matter, I was pointed to records listed on a city's website. The city's vendor, contract and payment information site indicates the group was awarded a new, $6.5-million city grant on May 12 - four days before Mr. Orozco's former boss Mr. Daley left office.
* WOW!
The contract actually was signed on May 2 by then-Budget Director Eugene Munin in what must have been among his last official acts.
(*SMIRK*)
A wonderful coincidence, no? After School Matters gets a grant agreement worth up to $6,480,000 "to support ongoing summer jobs and after-school programs for youth" just four days before Rahm Emanuel is sworn into office, vowing to search high and low for potential cuts to balance a budget that's $635 million in the red.
* NICE!
After School Matters and two different spokesmen for Mr. Emanuel say the timing of the grant was, um, a coincidence. The charity since 2007 regularly has received $6.5 million about a year from the city, they say. The money was included in the budget, they add, and it just so happens that the contract guaranteeing this year's funding went into effect in the final days of Mr. Daley's tenure. (A perusal of city records indicates that, indeed, After School Matters has received lots of city cash in recent years.)
It looks to me like the amount has increased some lately. In 2006 through 2009, it received contracts with an average annual value of up to $4 million. The last two years, the average annual value has been closer to $7 million.
(*SNORT*)
Now, I've got nothing against Mr. Orozco, whose past work wins big praise from some. As far as I know, he's worth the $185,000 a year he's reportedly being paid in his new job. (After School Matters says that figure is too high, but declines to say what he is making.) Nor do I have anything against After School Matters, which under Ms. Daley's leadership built a reputation as a solid group doing good work. But why would those involved risk all of that by pulling these kinds of stunts?
The world had changed. If After School Matters is going to survive and thrive, it's going to have to make its way without any more marvelous coincidences.
* APPARENTLY THE WORLD HASN'T CHANGED.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_18608410?source=most_viewed
U.S. federal agents allegedly allowed the Sinaloa drug cartel to traffic several tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels, according to court documents filed in a U.S. federal court.
* TWO WORDS: 1) ERIC... 2) HOLDER...
The case could prove to be a bombshell on par with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' "Operation Fast and Furious," except that instead of U.S. guns being allowed to walk across the border, the Sinaloa cartel was allowed to bring drugs into the United States.
* TO BE FAIR... (*PAUSE*)... THESE ARE ONLY "ALLEGATIONS"... HOWEVER...
Randall Samborn, assistant U.S. attorney and spokesman for the Justice Department in Chicago, declined comment.
* DECLINED COMMENT...?!?! DECLINED COMMENT...?!?!
* FOLKS... YOU HAVE THE LINK... READ THE FULL STORY. (*SHRUG*)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903520204576484173632138048.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
President Reagan and a Democratic House imposed Medicare price controls in 1983 - and the standard cost-control method since then of crude, arbitrary cuts to doctors, hospitals and other providers is now in collapse.
The fiscal distortions of such central planning are even worse.
All politicians - but these days especially Democrats - like to pretend they'll pay providers somewhat less in the future, despite knowing that is unlikely to happen in practice.
Medicare's prospective payments are low enough that further reductions may jeopardize access to care and in many cases threaten the viability of hospitals and physician practices.
[T]he main effect of these "cuts" is merely to move future spending off the federal balance sheet.
The ur-example is the "sustainable growth rate," which was created by Bill Clinton and the Gingrich Republicans in the 1997 budget deal. This formula is supposed to squeeze Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors if spending rises too fast. But since 2002, Congress has always passed a temporary "doc fix," often multiple times in a given year.
* IN OTHER WORDS, FOLKS... (SURPRISE! SURPRISE!)... CONGRESS PASSES A LAW ONE DAY TO GREAT FANFAIR AND THEN "EXEMPTS" THOSE WHOM THE LAW WAS WRITTEN TO EFFECT!
In January 2012, physician payments are scheduled to be cut 29.4%.
* ANYONE THINK THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN...? ANYONE...? ANYONE AT ALL...?
* AND IF IT DID HAPPEN... WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE WOULD BE THE END RESULT...???
(*CONSIDERING POURING MYSELF AN EARLY AFTERNOON COCKTAIL*)
The Affordable Care Act created a mirror version for hospitals, to help hide the costs of this new middle-class entitlement. Because of a technical change to the "productivity adjustments" formula, payments for inpatient treatment will grow 1.1% more slowly than they otherwise would, a factor that will compound over time. By the end of the decade, Medicare rates will drop below Medicaid rates, which many providers already refuse to accept.
Another way of putting it is that the "adjustments" Mr. Obama posits and Republicans may endorse either aren't going to happen, or if they do will harm health-care delivery.
* FOLKS... THIS ONE'S A BIT COMPLICATED; YOU MIGHT WANNA READ THE FULL OP-ED. (NON-WSJ SUBSCRIBERS CAN GOOGLE "MORE MEDICARE CUTS".)
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