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WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps. Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit. Laid-off workers and state officials are only now realizing the quirk, a consequence of pushing a $787...

Based on a campaign promise by Obama his administration is now utilizing technology to provide bleeding edge transparency to government in ways unseen before. Even before the stimulus bill found support in Congress, one of the very first provisions in the bill spoke about Recovery.gov as a means to provide transparency to the American public. Aim here is to let the people know where exactly our hard earned money is going and even give us a chance to participate, or in this case write about emotional stories of how someone else's money changed our lives. Given that a bill of...

A short week after signing into law the biggest spending bill in the history of the United States, Obama has turned his attention on cutting our deficits. Akin to an alcoholic saying he will no longer drink whiskey, while doubling up on vodka and beer. His first line of business is to cut spending in Afghanistan & Iraq, ironic of course considering he just signed the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. What exactly does he plan to cut? Going to send the soldiers over there without rifles? Russians did so in battle of Stalingrad, so there is SOME...

It’s official. The Obama “Stimulus” Bill, a stinking pile of garbage and pork barrel spending, disguised as relief for our economy, passed both houses on Friday. The way it was crafted, the manner in which the voting public and members of the Republican Party were excluded, was dumb, infantile, shockingly crude and heavy handed. [...] Want to see where your tax dollars are going? Go to Stimulus Watch (H/T Oil for Immigration) and check out your city and state. Thanks to World Net Daily for giving us the site info needed to review the bill: the joint explanatory statement of...

Rahm Emanuel may have moved his office down Pennsylvania Avenue, but to stand in the hallways of the Capitol lately, it seems he never left. And if anyone’s fingerprints are on the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package being sorted out in Congress this week, they belong to Emanuel, the former Illinois House member who is now the White House chief of staff. There he was on the morning before the House stimulus vote, bringing Blue Dogs back into the fold as he huddled with their leaders in House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) hideaway off the House floor. That...

The real price of the stimulus will be individual liberty by Kevin O'Brien , Thursday February 12, 2009, 4:45 AM If all goes as scheduled -- and barring an exquisitely timed meteor strike on Washington, D.C., it will -- on a holiday formerly dedicated exclusively to the president who saved the union in hopes of "a new birth of freedom," the president we have today will sign freedom's death warrant. Two quotes from Benjamin Franklin leap to mind: "You have a republic, madam, if you can keep it"; and, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary...

UNBELIEVABLE -- Democratic Leadership Requires Stimulus Job Access for Illegal Aliens -- Secret Negotiations   By Roy Beck, Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 8:58 PM AND BAILED-OUT BANKS ARE GIVEN BACK PERMISSION TO FIRE AMERICANS AND REPLACE WITH FOREIGN WORKERSHouse Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid and the Obama White House were absolutely certain about one thing for the House/Senate negotiating committee on the Stimulus Bill:  There was to be no special restriction to keep illegal aliens from getting new jobs created by the bill at a cost of $250,000 to $500,000 each.   The Democratic leadership of our federal government made...

Now that there's a tentative agreement on the economic stimulus plan that President Barack Obama and other supporters hope will provide a considerable jolt to the economy, how long will it take to get infrastructure and other projects moving? And do economists think the plan is big enough to create millions of jobs? Here are some questions and answers about the latest version of the stimulus initiative. Q: What are the main objectives of the package? A: A combination of tax cuts and spending incentives totaling nearly $790 billion is aimed at putting money back in the pockets of consumers...

Stimulus Conference Committee Strips E-Verify Protections for American Workers Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 9:36 PM House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) issued a press release tonight decrying the removal of House-passed E-Verify worker protections from the conference committee report, which could be voted on as early as tomorrow. See Roy Beck's blog for more commentary on this injustice. The conference committee stripped a provision he authored, which would have re-authorized E-Verify for five years, and one sponsored by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.),...

A RAW DEAL FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES: DEMOCRATS' TRILLION-DOLLAR SPENDING BILL PROVIDES $1.10 PER DAY IN TAX RELIEF TO WORKERS, WHILE SADDLING EVERY AMERICAN FAMILY WITH $6,500 IN ADDED DEBT Following are some very tentative quick facts on the trillion-dollar "stimulus" spending deal slated to be rushed through the House and Senate today or tomorrow by Congressional Democrats, as compiled by the Office of House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH). These are based on best estimates on legislative text and scoring and may be subject to revision. 1. GENERATIONAL THEFT: The final agreement will cost each and every household more than...

The House of Representatives is pushing off a vote on the final version of the economic recovery package until Friday, sources say, as lawmakers put the finishing touches on a bill President Obama hopes will jump-start the economy and create millions of jobs. Senate and House negotiators reached a compromise bill estimated to cost $789 billion Wednesday. They trimmed billions from previous versions of the measure and settled on a package that contains 35 percent tax cuts and hundreds of billions in spending for infrastructure, education, health care, unemployment aid and other assistance. Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the...

Consensus Collapsing for the Senate's $838 Billion "Stimulus" by Brian M. Riedl WebMemo #2283 Advocates of fiscal responsibility should restrain any excitement over the $83 billion in spending Senators have eliminated from the "stimulus" bill. Indeed, the Senate's $838 billion price tag is still $19 billion larger than the House version. Although there are some differences between the two, the House and Senate versions of the bill both: Spend approximately $223,000 per job created, using the President's own figures; Contribute to a $3.5 trillion expansion of federal debt in 2009 and 2010--a staggering $30,000 in new debt per household, dumped...

New York Times: Stocks Slide as New Bailout DisappointsNew York Times: For Geithner’s Debut, a Lukewarm ReceptionWashington Post: In $1.5 Trillion Rescue, Few Details; Wall Street Responds With a Sharp Sell-Off, Sinking Dow 4.6 PercentWashington Post: Wall Street's Sharp Rebuke To Rescue Short on DetailWSJ: Market Pans Bank Rescue PlanWSJ: Treasury Secretary Gets a Chilly ReceptionBoston Globe:US sets massive bank rescue, stirs worries on Wall StreetInvestor’s Business Daily: Market Tumbles As $2 Trillion Bank Fix Skimps On DetailsLA Times: Stocks tumble after Geithner unveils financial planNY Post: Bailout BombsPolitico: Geithner's bear of a dayWashington Times: Obama bank plan skids...

Barney Frank: TARP's comp curbs could be extended to all businesses - Would be part of broader bill limiting hedge funds, credit-raters, and mortgage securitizers; 'deeply rooted anger' 02/07/09 House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Congress will consider legislation to extend curbs on executive pay that now apply only to those banks receiving federal assistance. He said the compensation restrictions would apply to all financial institutions and might be extended to include ALL US COMPANIES....

George Orwell, call your office !If prostitution is the world’s oldest profession, then city mayors follow a very close second.  In fact, it occurs to me they may be the spiritual offspring of the aforementioned liaisons.  Whenever there is loose change or unclaimed dollar bills laying around, mayors can smell them a mile away and if a Sugar Daddy offers free cash, they never stop to question what the vigorish might be.  The urban emperors, suburban commissars, the hack and the highbrow, the Republican and Democrat, the apolitical and amoral, the exurban apparatchiks all assemble to line dance down Pennsylvania Avenue like ladies of the...

"And let me say this, to all of the chattering class..."

Due to yesterday's cloture today's vote was a mere formality, however the fight is not quite over. Due to the heavy modifications of the bill, a next step involves the bill moving to a conference committee. There they will have to once again compromise and after reaching a happy medium, this well done slightly salted slab of pork is moving to Obama for digestion. Like me, you are probably somewhat exasperated and maybe called and wrote to many Senators this past week to no avail. But the fight is not over yet. What can you do!? Americans for Prosperity have...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner failed Tuesday to persuade Wall Street that he will succeed where his predecessor Henry Paulson failed. Geithner outlined the administration's plan to restart frozen credit markets and bolster the health of troubled banks. He said the economy will recover from its swoon only with the help of healthy financial institutions. But observers said the Obama administration's plan is neither well-funded enough to recapitalize troubled banks, nor detailed enough to assure investors that the government can solve the toxic asset problem plaguing banks. That, in part, is why stocks fell so sharply after...

If you want to stop the stimulus, the most effective way is to publicly embarrass one of its nationally-known supporters on video by asking them a series of tough, "prosecutorial-style" questions. When uploaded to Youtube and similar sites, that video would get hundreds of thousands or millions of views. It would have an impact on the career of the person who was asked those questions, and it would send a message to the others. I can help edit questions for maximum impact (see my general guide), but I need someone else to start an actual campaign necessary to get people...

With a new president ensconced in the White House, it's time to roll out the goodies for loyal supporters in left-of-center political advocacy groups such as ACORN. The latest economic stimulus bill promises to do just that by providing a huge bailout --up to $5.2 billion in taxpayer funds -- for some of the same liberal groups that helped get Barack Obama elected.