July 2009
41 posts
Republican's call ACORN out
“ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.” - From the ACORN.org website.
Representative Steve King from Ohio brought this to my attention tonight. First it’s supposed to be non-parisian, but they are self-described as a ”grassroots community organization of low- and...
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources”
– Albert Einstein
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970
contains a provision requiring a 3-day (calendar day, not legislative day) layover for all bills and committee reports prior to a bill being considered.
So it turns out ramming bills through congress is illegal, but Congress chooses to “wave” the provision requiring the 72 hour turnaround (or they might just break the law). Republicans abused this just as much as Democrats in...
Does anyone know the percent of the Venezuela...
I’m fairly positive it’s a smaller percentage than what Obama and the US government has nationalized in the USA.
The US Constitution is about 4,440 words
The Constitution, which set up the federal government and laid down its parameters, is, without the amendments and signatures, roughly 4,440 words. It is the shortest constitution in the world.
The Declaration of Independence was written in only 1,337 words.
I’ve stated these numbers just for reference. This year we’ve seen amendments longer than The Declaration of Independence,...
Special Interests
Special interest groups comprising insurers, hopspitals, & the medical industry hired more than 350 staffers to help shape the health care legislation.
The staff is part of a $1.4 MILLION a DAY lobbying spending spree for this legislation.
The FDIC has closed over 50 banks so far in '09
At the time of this writing the count was 52 in ‘09 compared to 25 for all of ‘08. Reported by the AP.
Don’t let anyone tell you the financial breakdown is close to finish, 7 banks were closed in one week.
Obama’s rating drops below 60% to 57% - George W. Bush was also @ 57% six months into his first term
Audit the Federal Reserve: HR 1207 and S 604
Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve (HR 1207) now has over 270 co-sponsors.
Interesting Commentary →
Typically new episodes go up once a week.
North Dakota had it’s first June snowfall in 60 years…
“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about,...”
– Joe Biden
Listen
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?... →
Latest C-Span pukefest
A bunch of democrats from Ohio and one form Virginia tonight talked about how great the Cap & Trade bill and how it is so great and how it will create (they didn’t say save) a bunch of jobs.
Here’s a quick breakdown on what I got: Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) - said the bill will create jobs and and will help the free market Tom Perriello (D-Virginia) - said the bill is great...
GDP Vs Income...FIGHT
Fact: the US GDP is made up of 70% consumer spending.
Fact: GDP has doubled nearly every 12 or so years since ‘81, accounting for around 400% change.
Fact: Income in the US has been increasing at a slower rate than GDP increasing roughly 290% since ‘81.
This leaves us a pretty huge gap that’s been paid for by Credit Cards and Heloc’s.
Bring this up when someone tells...
18 million to be spent on recovery.gov
Over 5 years it will cost 18 million dollars to redesign the government website recovery.gov
The lucky firm that’s been selected to build the suite: http://www.smartronix.com/
Texas is big
For business among other things. It has more fourtune 500 companies than any other state (Yes more than NY or CA).
Why? Low taxes and low cost of living. Their education is pretty bad though.
“It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.”
– Willian Gibbs McAdoo
Dem from NY does a solid for our food
HR 1549 - Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter held a hearing today in support for her bill. It would phase out using antibotics in food producing animals, which translates to preventing dairy producers from keeping milk producing cows constantly hooked up with antibiotics.
This is the first bit of legislation this year that makes sense and I actually want it to pass ASAP. Best part is that...
C02 (Carbon Dioxide) facts
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a natural part of Earth’s Atmosphere (NASA)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have risen from 0.028% to 0.038% (380ppm) over the past 100 years (IPCC)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not toxic until 5% (50,000ppm) concentration (Source)
Any detrimental effects of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) including chronic exposure to 3% (30,000ppm) are reversible (Source)
OSHA,...
U.S. Trade Deficit Fell to 9-Year Low in May
25.96 Billion tollars is the trade deficit for the month of May, that means the US bought around 26 billion more than we sold, that means it’s 26 billion more in debt.
This year, the deficit is running at an annual rate of $350 billion; it was $695.9 billion for all of 2008. Read More.
Texans are crazy
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, introduced HR 300, a resolution honoring Michael Jackson for some of the singer’s charitable acts and proclaims him an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian.
First time this year House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agree on a topic.
Side topic the following peeps from Texas in the House of Reprenatives might be OK in my book, not sure yet: Michael...
Be prepared for the health care bill to be rammed through congress next. The draft is available, but the final bill won’t be available until the last minute. After that expect more appendments in the middle of the night just like previous bills (3am amendments anyone?). It wil be voted on by the end of the month.
Now you can be morebetterer!
If you see something that you think belongs on morebetterer (where you are reading this) - then submit it here: http://morebetterer.com/submit
It's a good time to rent
The vacancy rate for U.S. apartments hit a 22-year high according to the WSJ to 7.5% in the April-to-June period.
New York City had the largest 12-month rent decline of large cities, at 5.8%, to an average of $2,680
33 hours
Is the number of hours the avg American is working due to lack of work-the lowest since the BLS started recording the stats in 1964
Avoid These!
bryanhammer:
nutritionista:
Thanks, Joyce! This is a great comprehensive list.
wholelife:
FOOD We all know to avoid high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, and enriched and bleached flour. Besides those, this is a list of fairly common ingredients found in the foods you eat. A lot of them have been approved by the FDA, but are still incredibly harmful to you.
MSG - Monosodium glutamate...
article math = fun w/ swine flu
The equation balances…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak + The strain itself killed 1 person and hospitalized 13, however side-effects from the vaccine caused 25 deaths
= http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090612-714016.html + European regulators have already cleared a mock-up pandemic vaccine made by Baxter. That clearance allows for fast-track approval of a vaccine...
DoJ to Investigate AT&T-iPhone Exclusivity →
The Department of Justice will explore issues like anti-competitive practices. The market share of AT&T and Verizon - 60% of wireless customers.
According to according to WSJ:
“Among the areas the Justice Department could explore is whether wireless carriers are hurting smaller competitors by locking up popular phones through exclusive agreements with handset makers, according to the people....
lock 'em up boys
Imprisonment does not work - it’s not cost effective, practical, & doesnt “rehabilitate” anyone. I’ll spare “lecture” on who benefits from warehousing, but simply putting people away for X number of years only stops them from committing a crime for the same amount of time, nothing more or less.
Jim Lewis of The New York Times Magazine wrote,...
“The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but grattitude”
– Thorton Wilder
Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn’t control...
Hellen Thomas has covered every president since JFK. She lays into Robert Gibbs, current White House Press Secretary, saying that the Obama administration is controlling the press like no other administation before.
Major props to CBS’ Chip Reid for raising the first question.
Read More: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445
In June the US lost 467k jobs
USD is now less than 0.71 Euros…
Great, just wait until our bonds get downgraded.