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More Bailout Baloney

FactCheck.org — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:54:07 +0000

Four more freshman House Democrats are claiming in ads to have opposed the Wall Street bailout. We wrote last week about five ads being run by first-term Democrats claiming they voted against the bailout, which created the unpopular Troubled Asset Reli...

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Democratic Bailout Baloney

Attack on Giffords Comes Up Short

FactCheck.org — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:54:04 +0000

An attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords by a group called Conservatives for Congress hoodwinks viewers with selectively edited clips from a House hearing earlier this year. The TV ad, which has been running in the Tucson market, lampoons the Arizona Democ...

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AFSCME’s Misleading Tax Attack

1% Transaction Tax

FactCheck.org — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:54:01 +0000

Q: Is "Obama's finance team" recommending a 1 percent tax on all bank transactions, as a chain email claims? A: No. This idea was first floated in 2004 by one House member, who says it would replace the federal income tax and eliminate the national deb...

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Sunday Replay

CREW: JOHN ENSIGN NEEDS A MIRROR

Adam Ratliff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:41:24 +0000

8 Sep 2010 // Washington, D.C. -A report published in today's Reno Gazette-Journal quotes Senator John Ensign (R-NV) saying the following: "If you don't hold us accountable, we'll do some real bad things in Washington, D.C." T...

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CREW CALLS ON SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO ACT ON SENATOR ENSIGN

Top Ten Economics Debates

Andrew — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:32:39 +0000

10 great economics debates

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Top Ten Economics Documentaries

One in Six Americans Receives Government Assistance

citizennyc — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:17:53 +0000

Fifty million are on Medicaid, a record high and a whopping 17 percent increase since December 2007. Food stamp enrollment has climbed nearly 50 percent since 2008 and now stands at 40 million, or one in seven people. Ten million Americans receive unemployment benefits, and 4.4 million get direct cash assistance, an 18 percent increase from two years ago.

And these are the numbers from only four of the more than 70 welfare programs funded by the federal government.

While some of the growth in welfare can be attributed to the current recession, government-assistance programs were growing far before the economy began to decline in December 2007. In fact, welfare spending has been climbing since the 1960s, when Lyndon B. Johnson declared his “War on Poverty.”

However, President Obama’s increases have been the most dramatic of any President in the nation’s history. As he completes two years in office, he will have added roughly $260 billion to government welfare spending, a jump two-and-a-half times greater than any previous welfare increase in the nation’s history.

And don’t expect welfare spending to decrease once the recession ends. The Obama budget makes it clear that the majority of these spending hikes are permanent. As a result, beginning this year, taxpayers will contribute approximately $1 trillion every year to federal means-tested programs. (This amount will be even greater once Medicaid enrollment jumps in 2014 as a result of the health care bill.)

Needless to say, such spending will only add to the massive national debt. Yet even more detrimental perhaps, will be the growing culture

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Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

Adam Ratliff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:16:46 +0000

8 Sep 2010 // The scholarship scandal involving Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson is getting more intriguing with revelations in The Dallas Morning News. Rep. Johnson originally pleaded ignorance, but now, that doesn’t appear to be totally true. Some intere...

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Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

House GOP leaders dodge questions on the future of ethics office

Adam Ratliff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:34:26 +0000

8 Sep 2010 // House Republican leaders won’t say whether they will scrap an ethics office if they regain the majority this fall. More»

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Ethics office details charges against Maxine Waters

Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

Adam Ratliff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:55:49 +0000

Continue reading Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

Stimulus Price Tag Rises To $814B or $581,000 per job. 70% already spent.

citizennyc — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:07:16 +0000

WASHINGTON AP — President Barack Obama’s massive stimulus measure has created or saved as many as 3.3 million jobs and continues to boost economic growth in the second half of 2010, but it’s come at a higher price tag than originally billed. Congressional analysts released new figures Tuesday estimating that the law enacted in January of 2009 — then projected to cost $787 billion over a decade — would cost $814 billion. That’s still lower than the Congressional Budget Office estimated in January, when it said the measure would cost $862 billion.

via Stimulus Price Tag Rises To $814B.

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Claims of Recovery But Results Nowhere To Be Found

theinternationalforecaster.com — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

the public wants more than claims of recovery, a great loss in trust of the system, gold still the antithesis of money system, BofA troubles, naked shorting problem, businesses in the struggle to stay alive, shadow stats, bills are getting bigger.

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Uncommon Markets to Solve Common Problems

FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Aug. 31-Sep. 6

FactCheck.org — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:36:43 +0000

This week, readers sent us comments about Social Security, the "Ground Zero mosque" and keeping the DNC honest. In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. ...

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FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Aug. 24-Aug. 30

Sunday Replay

FactCheck.org — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:36:33 +0000

To wrap up the Labor Day weekend, we present the Lindsey Graham edition of a holiday-delayed Sunday Replay, with cameos from a few minor characters. Graham on Democratic Legislation On NBC's "Meet the Press," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was skep...

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Sunday Replay

More Torturers Coming Back to CIA as Contractors

emptywheel — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:44:26 +0000

Adam Goldman has another in his series of articles fleshing out the details of the torture that John Durham is investigating. Today’s story describes the former FBI-turned CIA guy, “Albert” threatened Rahim al-Nashiri with a drill–with the approval of Albert’s boss, “Mike.” (Though the AP story says this threat would be less than a felony [...] Related posts:

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CIA Changed the Pelosi Briefing Description after Deciding to Destroy Torture Tapes

Could The Tea Party Be An Ally In The Progressive Revolt?

Jim Moss — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:56:56 +0000

As progressives think about the prospect of a third party, many are looking in unlikely places for new allies – even as unlikely as the Tea Party. The Tea Party was quickly co-opted by the Republicans and the MSM, but the original feeling that gave the movement life bears some similarity to the discontent that is gripping the left. No related posts.

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Another Republican expressing skepticism about Afghanistan: Newt Gingrich

America Picks and Chooses Among Extra-Legal Entities Destabilizing the World

emptywheel — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:43:49 +0000

I wanted to add to what David Dayen had to say about these two stories. Last week, the WaPo quoted at least two military figures stating, as fact, that the Taliban was a bigger threat to the US mission in Afghanistan than corruption. Based on that judgment, the WaPo suggests “military officials” are now pursuing a [...] Related posts:

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CIA: Money Is Fungible, Except When It Is Our Money

Yoo’s Got Mail?

Adam Ratliff — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:27:14 +0000

7 Sep 2010 // When the Justice Department's report on the so-called torture memos was released in February, the agency's internal watchdog noted that the five-year inquiry "had not been routine" and included the intriguing detail that a trove of key do...

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"FOUND" JOHN YOO EMAILS SHED NO LIGHT ON WHAT MR. YOO DID FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Whither The FEC?

Adam Ratliff — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:25:41 +0000

7 Sep 2010 // Having made good on its promise to throw out its old rule book in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to free up corporate and union political spending, the Federal Election Commission has riled critics who have revived calls to comp...

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CREW FILES SUIT AGAINST THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Wall Street’s Waterloo

citizennyc — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:25:56 +0000

Wall Street’s parasitic private banks crimes against America, and against humanity have never been larger, and despite the hype about recovery, the global economic crisis they’ve produced is far from over. Due to their perpetual bubble scams, obscene incentives, and corrupt profits the banks have killed the host of their party, America’s middle-class, which is the backbone of all thriving nations.

via OpEdNews – Diary: Wall Street’s Waterloo.

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JOIN THE NEW BROOM PARTY

More Bailout Baloney

Attack on Giffords Comes Up Short

1% Transaction Tax

CREW: JOHN ENSIGN NEEDS A MIRROR

Top Ten Economics Debates

One in Six Americans Receives Government Assistance

Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

House GOP leaders dodge questions on the future of ethics office

Melanie Sloan Discusses Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on AC360

Stimulus Price Tag Rises To $814B or $581,000 per job. 70% already spent.

Claims of Recovery But Results Nowhere To Be Found

FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Aug. 31-Sep. 6

Sunday Replay

More Torturers Coming Back to CIA as Contractors

Could The Tea Party Be An Ally In The Progressive Revolt?

America Picks and Chooses Among Extra-Legal Entities Destabilizing the World

Yoo’s Got Mail?

Whither The FEC?

Top Ten Economics Documentaries

Wall Street’s Waterloo