Obama Donors Appointed to Stimulus Committee

Let me ask you this: Would a big-time Obama donor be vested in telling us the stimulus has been poorly managed? Or would big-time donors to the president's campaign and political party have the integrity to recommend spending that huge amount of money in a clearly non-partisan manner? Another presidential "panel" has been established, the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel (RIAP). The RIAP makes recommendations to the Stimulus Czar, Earl Devaney, who chairs the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board (RAT). A study group of three professors has just been released and it does not show the funds were distributed or spent responsibly. See that link below.

Earl Devaney

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says Devaney's appointments are partisan and political:

Issa describes and documents the partisan political nature of 3 out of 4 appointees, i.e. Steven Koch, Edward Tufte, and Myrta “Chris” Sale...

Steven Koch, a Chicago banker, is a veteran donor and fundraiser for President Obama’s political efforts. He is an accomplished fundraising “bundler”, bundling over $200,000 for the President’s 2008 campaign. He also donated over $43,000 to the Democratic National Committee since 2008.

Edward Tufte, a Yale Professor, known for his skills in the presentation of data, has personally contributed over $120,000 to the National, Senate, and Congressional Democratic Campaign Committees since 1998.

Myrta “Chris” Sale, a veteran official of the Clinton Administration, served as Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Naturalization Service (INS). “Under her leadership, the agency welcomed 16,400 new citizens who had been arrested for at least one felony.”

Obama pledged the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board would be an at-large body to oversee how the government spends billions allocated to help the flailing U.S. economy.

But with dozens of agencies and departments involved, Obama wanted a central group to monitor independently where those funds are going.

Obama also planned to tap Biden to meet regularly with Cabinet members, governors and mayors to make sure their efforts were quick and effective. 

Earl Devaney is required to reply to Issa's letter. Devaney is responsible for the $787 billion stimulus being spent responsibly, but according to a new study of stimulus funds, the money has been distributed on a partisan and political basis, and has been spread among the legislators powerful enough to snatch it up, rather than distributed to those areas with the greatest need of stimulation. Read it here.

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

Linked by Doug Ross and Larwyn - Thank you!

About that Stimulus: Where's Stimulus Czar Earl Devaney?

Remember the $787 billion stimulus? Of course you do. Three political scientists have just released their report on the massive piece of legislation that was spread far and wide to politicians whose districts were not the neediest, so no surprise the stimulus did not stimulate. So where is the Stimulus Czar Earl Devaney, tasked with safeguarding how the funds were spent?

$787 Billion Stimulus

The key quote:

...legislative leaders or lawmakers seated on committees of jurisdiction – steered resources disproportionately in their own direction. Why?  Because they had the ability to do so.

From The Weekly Standard:

Three political scientists, James G. Gimpel and Frances E. Lee of the University of Maryland, and Rebecca U. Thorpe of the University of Washington, presented a devastating critique of the first stimulus bill at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in Washington, D.C. last week.

Their paper, titled “The Distributive Politics of the Federal Stimulus: The Geography of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009,” finds that the funding allocated under last year’s massive spending measure was poorly targeted based on economic need.

Additionally, the way the funds were allocated fits with a lot of Americans’  negative preconceptions of how Washington really works.

Gimpel and his colleagues ask an important question.  Did the stimulus money flow disproportionately to the areas with high unemployment and large numbers of mortgage foreclosures?  The simple answer: No.

To the contrary, the study reveals the severity of the recession had little bearing on allocation of the dollars.

Yet distribution decisions were far from random.  Gimpel and his colleagues write: “Clearly the ARRA did target federal resources to particular locations, just the wrong ones from a need standpoint.”

So how did the money get targeted?  The research supports two other explanations.  The first is known in political science circles as “distributive theory.”

This approach posits that members of Congress in key institutional positions – such as legislative leaders or lawmakers seated on committees of jurisdiction – steered resources disproportionately in their own direction. Why?  Because they had the ability to do so....

Call it the “pork barrel” approach to politics. 

What does Czar Earl Devaney have to say about this? Has anyone asked? Probably not. Where is Czar Earl Devaney?

Cartoon courtesy of John C. Williams at toonpool

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

Linked by The Lonely Conservative - Thanks Karen!

Stimulus Cost vs Iraq War: Stimulus Cost More than Iraq War

Mark Tapscott at the Washington Examiner quotes an American Thinker article by Randall Hoven. Obama's failed Stimulus spending cost more than the Iraq war. I was amazed at this for a couple of reasons - one being that I thought the Iraq war was the biggest expenditure known in the history of the modern world, but apparently not.

Stimulus Costs More than Iraq War

Hoven quotes elitists saying the Iraq War cost $3 trillion. The CBO tells Hoven the entire cost is $709 billion. I don't about you, but I feel much better now. I can think of several who are near and dear to me whom I will assault with these figures - gleefully, and often.

Here's a handy stat: the stimulus bill passed in Obama's first month in office costs 15% more than the entire Iraq War. Repeating, 15% MORE THAN THE ENTIRE IRAQ WAR.

* Obama's stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War -- more than $100 billion (15%) more.

* Just the first two years of Obama's stimulus cost more than the entire cost of the Iraq War under President Bush, or six years of that war.

* Iraq War spending accounted for just 3.2% of all federal spending while it lasted.

* Iraq War spending was not even one quarter of what we spent on Medicare in the same time frame.

* Iraq War spending was not even 15% of the total deficit spending in that time frame. The cumulative deficit, 2003-2010, would have been four-point-something trillion dollars with or without the Iraq War.

* The Iraq War accounts for less than 8% of the federal debt held by the public at the end of 2010 ($9.031 trillion).

* During Bush's Iraq years, 2003-2008, the federal government spent more on education that it did on the Iraq War. (State and local governments spent about ten times more.)

How many times can we repeat this between now and midnight November 1st? Read Randall Hoven's Iraq: The War That Bros Us -- Not, it's a handy piece to bookmark.

Others Talking about the Iraq War Democrat Lie:
Reaganite Republican - with a classic pic of the Edsel

posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

Nameless Spending Bill Punishes States, Rewards Democrats

Like every piece of legislation coming out of Congress these days, the more you know about the Democrats "stimulus" bill with no name, the worse it gets. Today's editorial in the Wall Street Journal brings to light the worst parts of this bad bill.

Specifically, the bill stipulates that federal funds must supplement, not replace, state spending on education. Also, in each state, next year's spending on elementary and secondary education as a percentage of total state revenues must be equal to or greater than the previous year's level.

Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi did the math and figured out his state will be worse off. Mr. Barbour says the bill will force his state "to rewrite its current year [fiscal 2011] budget. Preliminary estimates of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration show that we will now have to spend between $50-100 million of state funds—funds that must be taken away from public safety, human services, mental health and other state priorities and given to education—in order for an additional $98 million of federal funds to be granted to education. There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets, but that is exactly what Congress has done."

That's not all. The legislation would actually force Texas legislators to violate their own constitution.

For Texas, and only Texas, this funding rule will be in place through 2013. This is a form of punishment because the Beltway crowd believes the Lone Star State didn't spend enough of its 2009 stimulus money. Apparently Texas politicians have been clinging to the quaint notion that the government should try to live within its means.

Texans also seem to have an old-fashioned appreciation for the rule of law. On Friday, 22 GOP Members of the state's Congressional delegation sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "This provision would have Texas violate her own State Constitution," they wrote. "The Texas Legislature has sole authority to determine State appropriations. Moreover, one Legislature cannot bind a future Legislature. Requiring the State to assure that a future Texas Legislature would commit to spend funds in accordance with these provisions would violate the Texas Constitution."

Texas Governor Rick Perry is also opposed to this new "assistance" from the federal government. He understands that one-time payments that force permanently higher state obligations are a windfall for government employees. But if given the choice, taxpayers would just say no.

Of course, we keep hearing that it's all about "the children" and saving the jobs of teachers. But the Journal also goes on to note that a Michigan teachers union refused to concede to changes in its members' health plan. The concession would have reduced the cost of family coverage from $23,000 per year to $17,000. It's like going from a Mercedes to a Cadillac, but they would have none of that. Why would they, when Congress and President Obama were waiting in the wings, ready to send them taxpayer funds they can use to fund their exorbitant benefit packages, all the while sending money back to the Democrats to help finance their campaigns.

No wonder Obama can't get his approval ratings out of the gutter. He and his fellow Democrats are legislating from the gutter. No matter how much they spend, the economy keeps getting worse. The Fed announced more plans to "stimulate" the economy and the stock market responded with its worst day in over a month. So much for confidence. The trade deficit is getting worse and millions of unemployed Americans can't find jobs.

This graph shows that none of the so called stimulus has stimulated anything but poverty and dependence in America.



No wonder the Democrats don't want to run on their record. Who would?

Cross posted from The Lonely Conservative

Christina Romer Stimulus Performance Stunning: Retail Sales Break all-time Record Drop

An unexpected drop in retail sales in December 2009 breaks the all-time biggest yearly drop - EVAH! Don't miss that. Never before have retail sales plummeted to the depths of that of 2009.  In the meantime, Christina Romer points out that the economy, according to this administration's fuzzy math and gestimates, is better off than it would have been without the stimulus, with 1.5 million to 2 million fewer jobs, and Romer believes that is a stunning result:

That's truly a stunning and important effect", Christina Romer, the council's chairwoman, said in a conference call with reporters. "It has done exactly what we have anticipated it would do."

What happened to all that stash Obama was putting into our paychecks to filter back into the economy? Remember when he said this:

By April 1, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month," the President said in his weekly radio and Web address. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans."

Some 95% of working families will see a tax cut, he said.

Obviously, that stash did not make it into the economy, or maybe it was just too piddling to make a difference.

Ace looks the gestimates, sans-facts, and "saving" jobs as opposed to "creating," jobs and "partly funding" jobs - all so stunning in so many ways.

Phony Zip Codes Get 9.5 Million in Stimulus Funds: Earl Devaney Fails

I don't know about you, but I want the people who filled out the paperwork for stimulus funds, using phony zip codes, to go straight to prison for theft of taxpayer monies - my money. Whomever actually accepted the money on behalf of whomever, and everyone who knew what was going on - I want in prison for a very long time. Fourteen phony zip codes received funds. Someone must be held responsible, for this and the boatload of dishonest manuevering by federal and state officials.

 

The phony zip codes are a new wrinkle in Recovery.gov’s increasingly tattered credibility. In November, Ed Pound, director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said a rash of phantom congressional districts found on the website were the result of confusion by fund recipients, who apparently didn’t know who their congressman was.

Do you remember the former secret service agent, and Inspector General at the Department of Interior, Earl Devaney, who was tasked with heading up the Recovery Act Transpareny and Accountability Board? Devaney was to work closely with Joe Biden to protect the funds. Obama told states he would "treat misappropriations harshly." Bwwwahahahaha!

With Barack Obama, everything is about image. Speaking about Devaney, he said:

"He looks like an inspector, he's tough, you know he barely cracks a smile."

My anger is reaching insanity. Three hundred and fifty million to police this $787 billion program? It would be a bargain if it worked. Of course, it has not worked, as we knew it would not.

New Mexico WatchDog reported in December on jobs in nonexistent New Mexico Congressional districts, and they have their share of phone zip code stimulus recipients, as well.

Get this from NewMexicoWatchDog:

The agency charged with tracking the stimulus funds, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, attempted to eliminate this embarrassment by lumping all the billions reported going to nonexistent Congressional districts into a new category called the “unassigned” Congressional district.

Closer examination of the latest recovery.gov report for New Mexico shows hundreds of thousands of dollars sent to and credited with creating jobs in zip codes that do not exist in New Mexico or anywhere else. Moreover, funds reported as being spent in New Mexico were given zip codes corresponding to areas in Washington and Oregon.

The recovery.gov site reports that $373,874 was spent in zip code 97052. Unfortunately, this expenditure created zip jobs. But $36,218 was credited with creating 5 jobs in zip code 87258. A cool hundred grand went into zip code 86705, but didn’t result in even one person finding work.

 So far, Virginia and New Mexico are the only states of the 14 named.

Online, I see that most of us are finding it impossible to express the intensity of our rage. Mine goes back beyond the Bush administration, but what we are experiencing today is beyond all reason. God help this Nation help ourselves. Amen.

Darrell Issa Rahm Emanuel: No Chicago Political Machine (Full Text)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel demanding a response to a Politico article stating that Emanuel used "Chicago-style" tactics to intimidate the state of Arizona after Arizona Senator Jon Kyle (R) expressed negative opinions about the stimulus and how the stimulus money is being spent. In the letter, Issa tells Emanuel that Washington, D.C. is not a Chicago political machine.

Darrell Issa

The letter accuses Emanuel of an "assault" on Kyl and "Chicago-style politics" through the letters that suggest "if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state...please let me know."

[Issa] You've unfortunately reacted by once again resorting to the playbook of the Chicago political machine." As Politico reports, you "launched a coordinated effort ot jam" Senator Kyl and other administration critics:

In response, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry published a column saying "Mr. President, Don't Bully Arizona." In my view, this is an important step. Issa called it as he sees it: intimidation through "Chicago-playbook tactics." Most importantly, he is demanding a response from the nauseatingly haughty Rahm Emanuel.

We'll see if he get is. We do not see letters like this making their way through Congress and landing in the White House. Note, hilariously, Issa attached a "glossary" of terms to describe the "communication and "records" he is asking for, and defining how the words "referring or relating," should be interpreted. Here's the full text with some bold and red text for emphasis, chosen by me:

*****

Written on U.S. House of Representative, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform letterhead and dated August 4, 2009. As you know, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) recently raised questions about the failure of the stimulus and suggested on a national television show that stimulus money scheduled to be spent in future years ought to be returned to the American taxpayers. Following Senator Kyl's remarks, according to Politico, you coordinated an "assault" on Senator Kyl and other critics of your policies by directing four cabinet secretaries to write to Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona, asking pointedly if, in light of Senator Kyl's remarks, Governor Brewer wished to forfeit taxpayer money directed to Arizona by the stimulus.

These tactics have been characterized as "a fist to the nose" and a message to "Back off." While this type of scare tactic may work in Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress.

At the risk of adding to the "weeks of frustration" you've reportedly felt in response to criticism of the Administration's ineffective and wasteful policies, please allow me to bring the facts about the stimulus to your attention. In selling the stimulus package, the Administration promised the Congress and the American people that the legislation would create or save 3.5 million jobs and prevent the U.S. unemployment rate from rising above 8%.

I thought the outdated and discredited Keynesian economic theory behind your effort was misguided and I opposed the stimulus. Unfortunately, recent economic data has validated my opposition.-The U.S. economy lost 433,000 jobs in June, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5%. These job losses come on the heels of other declining economic indicators, and bring the total number of American jobs lost since President Obama took office to over 2.6 million.

I and others have dared to bring these facts to the attention of President Obama, the Congress and the American people. You've unfortunately reacted by once again resorting to the playbook of the Chicago political machine. As Politico reports, you "launched a coordinated effort to jam" Senator Kyl and other Administration critics:
[A]fter seeing Kyl and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) again paint the legislation as a failure on Sunday talk shows, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel directed that the letters from the Cabinet secretaries be sent to [Governor] Brewer, according to two administration officials.
The fact that the letters were coordinated by you to maximize the level of intimidation is supported by the timing, structure, and content of each letter. Not only were the four letters all sent the day following Senator Kyl's remarks, but they were also remarkably similar in tone and sentence structure. For example, consider the following comparison: Letter from Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation:

On Sunday, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl publicly questioned whether the stimulus is working and stated that he wants to cancel projects that aren't presently underway. I believe the stimulus has been very effective in creating job opportunities throughout the country. However, if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Senator Kyl suggests, please let me know [emphasis added].

Letter from Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior:

Some key Republican leaders in Congress have publicly questioned whether the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is working and suggested cancelling all projects that are not currently in progress. I believe they are wrong. The stimulus funds provided through the Recovery Act are a very effective way to create job opportunities throughout the Country. However, if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to Arizona, please let me know [emphasis added].

Politico reports that in response to these letters, Governor Brewer "knew she'd been thrown a high, hard one." The president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry felt the need to respond to these tactics by penning a column under the headline: 

"Mr. President: Don't Bully Arizona." At what point do you believe your practice of Chicago-style politics violates a public official's right to speak out in favor of alternative policies? The American people have a right to know what role you played in developing the threatening letters to Governor Brewer and whether you intend to continue to engage in these tactics in the future.

Since I represent a district in the great state of Califomia, I hope that you will not take this letter as an indication of Governor Schwarzenegger's position on stimulus funds dedicated to California nor his position on any other public policy issue. I can assure you that any attempt to intimidate me or silence my criticism of the stimulus through such Chicago-style tactics will be futile. 

 In order to assist the Committee with its investigation of this issue, please provide the following information by close of business on Tuesday, August 11, 2009:

1. Your response to Politico 's report that "White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel directed that the letters from the Cabinet secretaries be sent to [Governor] Brewer, according to two administration officials."

2. A full and complete explanation of the development of the four July 13 letters from the cabinet secretaries to Governor Brewer, including but not limited to the role you or any other White House official played in writing the letters or encouraging the writing of the letters.

3. All records and communications between you and Secretary LaHood, Secretary Salazar, Secretary Donovan, and Secretary Vilsack referring or relating to the decision to send the July 13 letters to Governor Brewer.

4. A full and complete explanation of the role of the Democratic National Committee and the White House Office of Political Affairs in authoring, encouraging, facilitating, or directing the four July 13 letters from the cabinet secretaries to Governor Brewer. Please note that, for purposes of responding to this request, the terms "records," "communications," and "referring or relating" should be interpreted consistently with the attached Definitions of Terms.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Christopher Hixon or Brien Beattie of the Committee staff at (202)225-5074, The letter is signed "Darrell E. Issa, Ranking Member" End Issa letter.

*****

The quote from Politico:

Earlier this month, at the direction of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, four cabinet secretaries fired off letters to Jan Brewer, the GOP governor of Arizona, citing Kyl’s critique and asking if the state still wanted the funds.

Read a portion of the letter from the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, with a link to the full text in pdf - which is what you see above.

Stimulus Brings Worst Unemployment in Central New York Since 1990

By Lonely Conservative

The Syracuse Post Standard reports that unemployment in Central New York is higher than it has been since 1990. See video below.

Unemployment in the area was 8.6 percent in June, higher than it has been in any June since at least 1990, when the Labor Department changed its methodology for calculating the rate.

“Right now, we’re feeling the full effects of the recession because the job losses have spread from manufacturing to the other sectors,” said Karen Knapik-Scalzo, an economist with the department. “It’s become more widespread now.”

The jobless rate was up from 8 percent in May and 5.4 percent in June of last year. It matched that of the state but was below the nation’s unemployment rate of 9.7%”

Not only has Central New York lost 4,900 jobs since last June, the government added 700 jobs, so the net loss to the private sector is even worse than it seems. We, the taxpayers, have to pay for those 700 new government jobs somehow.

And we’re the lucky ones. Michigan’s unemployment rate is higher than 15%! Wasn’t Porkulus – aka the Generational Theft Act – supposed to stimulate the economy to keep people from losing their jobs? That’s what Barack Obama told us, over and over again. Now he’s singing a different tune, and his penchant for constantly appearing in front of cameras is starting to hurt him. The GOP is capitalizing on his vanity. Good for them.

Keep talking Obama, keep talking.

Boehner and Hoyer on Fox News Sunday: Boehner: Defending the Simulus (Video)

Listen to Boehner tell Hoyer that Republicans were not opposed to a stimulus, they were opposed to the Democrat's stimulus. Saying that jobs should have been created by small businesses as Republicans proposed, Obama and Hoyer bray about th teachers and firefighters who have not lost their jobs. The fact is, few jobs have been created, basically no sustainable jobs have been created, but...well one job created by stimulus funds is...innovative??? The show opens with this video within the video, of how a town used their stimulus windfall. Rep. John Boehner key quote: "Trust small business and the American people to invest their own money." In response to Rep. Steny Hoyer's whine that the Democrats inherited this terrible economy, my hubby points out that the Democrats had been in power for two years before Barack Obama came to the Oval Office, and sat in the Senate those two years.

Boehner and Hoyer on Fox News Sunday

Stimulus Obscenity No. 1: Fish Food

My list of stimulus obscenities, numbered in no particular order, begins here with $50 million set aside for fish food. Those funds clearly designated to create jobs, will feed fish a diet of larvae and algae and who know what, for clams, oysters, tilapia, catfish, trout and gamefish.

Stimulus Money Hard at Work for the Taxpayer - Catfish

No jobs created but some "saved?" Catfish make up one-third of the U.S. "aquaculture industry." Here's your stimulus money hard at work for you. ChicagoRay has some thoughts on the $50 billion "stimulus fraud." Read Stimulus Obscenity No. 2: John Murtha Airport with video

Puzzled In Gaza

By Findalis The world has been screaming about the horror that Gaza has become due to Operation Cast Lead. That it is all in shambles, thousands of innocent civilians were wounded, hundreds of innocent civilians were killed. That the Israelis are the worse people on Earth since the Nazis. This sentiment has been echoed from the highest levels of many governments. Voices like Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton and President Obama. Congressmen Ellison and Baird plus that perennial loser John Kerry, have echoed these remarks, shouting that the time has come to cut off all funding from Israel. But they did not see the real picture that is Gaza. Only the Pallywood version that they were allowed to be shown.

What I saw was that there had been precision attacks made on all of Hamas' infrastructure. Does UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticize the surgical destruction of the explosives cache in the Imad Akhel Mosque, of the National Forces compound, of the Shi Jaya police station, of the Ministry of Prisoners? The Gazans I met weren't mourning the police state. Neither were they radicalized. As Hamas blackshirts menaced the street corners, I witnessed how passersby ignored them. THERE WERE empty beds at Shifa Hospital and a threatening atmosphere. Hamas is reduced to wielding its unchallengeable authority from extensive air raid shelters which, together with the hospital, were built by Israel 30 years ago. Terrorized Gazans used doublespeak when they told me most of the alleged 5,500 wounded were being treated in Egypt and Jordan. They want it known that the figure is a lie, and showed me that the wounded weren't in Gaza. No evidence exists of their presence in foreign hospitals, or of how they might have gotten there. From the mansions of the Abu Ayida family at Jebala Rayes to Tallel Howa (Gaza City's densest residential area), Gazans contradicted allegations that Israel had murderously attacked civilians. They told me again and again that both civilians and Hamas fighters had evacuated safely from areas of Hamas activity in response to Israeli telephone calls, leaflets and megaphone warnings. Seeing Al-Fakhora made it impossible to understand how UN and press reports could ever have alleged that the UNWRA school had been hit by Israeli shells. The school, like most of Gaza, was visibly intact. I was shown where Hamas had been firing from nearby, and the Israeli missile's marks on the road outside the school were unmistakable. When I met Mona al-Ashkor, one of the 40 people injured running toward Al-Fakhora - rather than inside it as widely and persistently reported - I was told that Israel had warned people not to take shelter in the school because Hamas was operating in the area, and that some people had ignored the warning because UNWRA previously told them that the school would be safe. Press reports that fatalities numbered 40 were denied. I WAS TOLD stories at Samouni Street which contradicted each other, what I saw and later media accounts. Examples of these inconsistencies are that 24, 31, 34 or more members of the Fatah Samouni family had died. That all the deaths occurred when Israel bombed the safe building it had told 160 family members to shelter in; the safe building was pointed out to me but looked externally intact and washing was still hanging on a line on one of its balconies. That some left the safe building and were shot in another house. That one was shot when outside collecting firewood. That there was no resistance - but the top right hand window of the safe building (which appears in a BBC Panorama film Out of the Ruins" aired February 8) has a black mark above it - a sign I was shown all day of weaponry having been fired from inside. That victims were left bleeding for two or three days. The media have manufactured and examined allegations that Israel committed a war crime against the Samounis without mentioning that the family are Fatah and that some of its members are still missing. They have not considered what might flow from those facts: that Hamas might have been active not only in the Samouni killings but in the exertion of force on the Samounis to accuse Israel. THE GAZA I saw was societally intact. There were no homeless, walking wounded, hungry or underdressed people. The streets were busy, shops were hung with embroidered dresses and gigantic cooking pots, the markets were full of fresh meat and beautiful produce - the red radishes were bigger than grapefruits. Mothers accompanied by a 13-year-old boy told me they were bored of leaving home to sit on rubble all day to tell the press how they'd survived. Women graduates I met in Shijaya spoke of education as power as old men watched over them. No one praised their government as they showed me the sites of tunnels where fighters had melted away. No one declared Hamas victorious for creating a forced civilian front line as they showed me the remains of booby trapped homes and schools. From what I saw and was told in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead pinpointed a totalitarian regime's power bases and largely neutralized Hamas's plans to make Israel its tool for the sacrifice of civilian life.

What the writer saw and heard was the truth. Not what Hamas wanted the world to see, but the actual truth behind what happened. But the Moonbats in the world will only listen to Hamas' lies and scream out that there was an atrocity committed in Gaza by the Israelis. And what does the US government do? The allocate $900 million for Gaza reconstruction. Almost a Billion Dollars to flow into the hands of Hamas. A Billion Dollars for weapons, for rockets, for terrorizing innocent Israelis. A Billion Dollars to steal and put in their personal Swiss Bank Accounts. And yet, this same administration cannot find a single dollar to help rebuild the City of New Orleans, especially the lower 9th Ward. And where does the US get this money from? You guess it. The American Tax Payer. Congratulations America! You have a new partner in the world: Hamas! I am sure you are all very happy with this idea and will take them into your bosom. After all, they will now be your biggest partners in your War against Terror, War against Islamic Fascism, War on Israel. How wonderful for you!

Rep. Paul Kanjorski: A Run on Money Markets - Vast Drawdowns (Video)

Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) begins to answer the question of why, out of the blue one morning, we found we needed to stave off a economic crises of monumental proportions.

Representative Paul Kanjorski

Did you know that in a two hour period, our economy nearly failed as someone drewdown money market accounts? Then we had the economic crisis of monumental proportions. Someone knows who pulled this money out of the economy. Things like this are not done in a vaccuum. Someone needs to start talking. My husband and I have had this conversation often since former Secretary Paulson began dominating our television news with a meek George W. Bush standing by his side. How, we asked, did we get here? How did this just happen "one morning?" It made no sense. We've had the same conversation over and over.

 Today, I heard Rush Limbaugh reading the words of Representative Paul Kanjorski. I missed some of it, but did hear that our markets had a "tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars," all occurring within a period of one or hours. Kanjorski said the "The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped one-hundred-and-five billion dollars into the system, and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide." If, Kanjorski says, they had not taken this action, they estimate that five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have disappeared from the money market system in the U.S. - and collapsed the entire economy of the U.S....and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed." "It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it." Now, if my memory serves me right, this was all done without Americans knowing anything. Rush asks the question: who was trying to bring down the American economy?

Could it have been George Soros? Could it have been a consortium of countries -- Russia, China, Venezuela -- countries that are eager to have Barack Obama elected because they know that will make it easier for them to continue their own foreign policies in the world?

According to Rush, this video video of Kanjorski on C-Span took place on January 27th, a little over four months after the "drawdown" event. To date, it appears none of this has been explained. It appears that no one but Rush is asking questions and offering theories.

Read all of Rush Limbaugh's commentary - there's much more there. Below is a transcript and the video - thanks to boing boing. Also you'll hear in this video that TARP was never a plan to allow banks to lend money!

And...you'll hear a frantic woman at the start of the video, frantic that her money is gone and she can't pay her bills. She wants tax relief to get money back to the people. Kanjorski says we need to listen to this lady. Maybe she has a better idea. It appears that Representative Kanjorski vote no on the House Stimulus bill.

Transcript:

The Capital Markets Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, tells C-Span how the world economy almost collapsed in a matter of hours.

At 2 minutes, 20 seconds into this C-Span video clip, Kanjorski reports on a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars." According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occurred over the period of an hour or two.

Kanjorski: "The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped a hundred and five billion dollars into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic and there. And that's what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o'clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed." "It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it."

Rep. Paul Kanjorski - A Run on Money Markets - Vast Drawdowns

Tom Coburn: Obama Has Not Read the Stimulus Bill

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) was on Fox News this morning. The interviewer (can't remember who it was) said that President Obama said that 99% of the Stimulus Bill is not pork - and is stimulative. He/she asked Coburn what he thought about that. Coburn said "he [Obama] hasn't read the bill."