Senate Dems Lose Vote on Repeal of Tax Breaks for Oil Companies Amid Pain at Pump

Why do democrats keep calling these tax breaks subsidies? Why do they keep neglecting to mention that many other industries in this Country get the same tax breaks? Why do they fail to inform us that they are picking on FIVE oil companies? They aren't demanding that these tax breaks be taken away from ALL oil companies, just the five that they don't like. Why don't they admit that if these tax breaks are taken away the price of gasoline will rise in accordance?

These big five oil companies pay about 40% in taxes, even with the tax breaks they get, billions of dollars. But all the democrats see is the dollar figures, never mind that there are lots of companies that make a bigger profit percentage, just not the dollar amount. The democrats also refuse to mention that out of those profits the oil companies pay for research and development and exploration. It's not like they drill a hole in the ground and oil pops out. They spend huge amounts of money figuring out exactly where the oil is.

And lets also keep in mind that the oil industry employs thousands and thousands of people. Every time obama and his gang of thugs make it harder for oil companies to drill, Americans lose their jobs. The oil industry sufffers every day along the Gulf Coast because obama refuses to allow them to drill.

obama recently said he is going to increase drilling in the Gulf, off of Alaska, and off of California. It's bullshit. It is an election stunt. He has no intention of EVER allowing our Country to become energy independent. Don't fall for it people...

From FoxNews

As expected, Senate Democrats lost a key test vote Tuesday on a bill that would have repealed $20 billion worth of tax subsidies for the nation's five largest oil companies, falling 8 votes short of a win.

The 52-48 vote came as a majority of Americans say in a new Gallup poll that high gas prices are hurting their finances.

Nearly seven in 10 Americans said high gas prices are causing financial hardship for their families. More than half said to compensate, they have made major changes, ranging from shorter trips to cutting back on vacation travel. More than a 1,000 people responded to the poll that has a 4 percent margin of error.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.94, according to AAA, and Democrats were looking to exploit that high price with Tuesday's vote.

Last week, Democrats grilled oil executives on the tax breaks that they say are not needed and President Obama announced Saturday he was directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast.

Democrats have been touting a new report by the Joint Economic Committee found that eliminating the tax breaks would reduce the deficit by $21 billion over 10 years and encourage alternative energy and energy efficiency.

"This new JEC report makes clear that there are ways to bring down the deficit without harming our economic recovery," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., chairman of the committee. "By repealing unnecessary tax breaks to the major integrated oil companies, we can reduce the deficit by more than $20 billion and speed the move to a clean energy economy without impacting prices at the pump."

But Republicans opposed the bill, saying it won't relieve pain at the pump, a conclusion also reached by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said on the Senate floor Tuesday that "it won't affect gas prices at all."

Reid then went on to say the opposite.

"We have to do something about the exorbitant gas prices, and the best way to start with that is to do something about the five big oil companies getting subsidies they don't need," he said.

Read the rest at the link above...

obama really is turning democrats into Republicans...

The other day I made a comment about obama turning democrats into Republicans. Somebody told me that it was bullshit. I've been doing a little research and it turns out it's not bullshit. Here are some stats from Gallup.

This is a list of some States and the percentage of the population that is or leans democrat.

Illinois
2008 - 55.9
2010 - 47.7

California
2008 - 52.2
2010 - 46.8

Oregon
2008 - 52.0
2010 - 47.5

Washington
2008 - 50.9
2010 - 45.3

New York
2008 - 57.2
2010 - 50.5

New Jersey
2008 - 53.2
2010 - 46.6

Massachusetts
2008 - 60.3
2010 - 52.5

Connecticut
2008 - 56.7
2010 - 50.0

Rhode Island
2008 - 60.4
2010 - 48.2

Florida
2008 - 48.2
2010 - 42.7

Pennsylvania
2008 - 52.9
2010 - 46.4

Even in obama's home State of Illinois there is a substantial drop in people claiming to be democrats. I don't blame them. I wouldn't tell anyone if I was a democrat...

Gas Bills Bloat Congress

What kind of an idiot would even begin to think taking tax breaks away from oil companies and giving them to "green energy" companies would lower gas prices? That's right, a democrat idiot. If you are looking for a sure fire way to raise the cost of a gallon of gas, take away any tax breaks to the oil companies. What they will pay in taxes will just be tacked on to the price we pay at the pump.

Increasing production is the answer to lower gas prices. And these clowns need to do something fast. Most of us can't afford what we are paying now, and any further hikes will be close to catastrophic for many.

It's sounds like instead of anybody doing anything, congress will just sit around blaming each other and hope for political points out of the deal.

I've had it with the whole bunch of them...

By Chris Stirewalt - FoxNews

GOP and Dems Trade Shots Over Gas Bills, But Which Plan Would Lower Costs? 

“What is more likely to lower gas prices: Raising taxes on oil companies or increasing oil production?”

-- Senate Republican aide talking to Power Play about competing energy legislation in Congress this week

With debt and budget negations stalled for the time being, members of Congress will instead turn to the business of assigning political blame over high gas prices.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected this week to push forward a Democratic plan that would transfer tax breaks for American oil companies to approved green-energy firms.

House Speaker John Boehner, meanwhile, will bring up a series of votes on a suite of Republican legislation aimed at breaking President Obama’s clampdown on offshore drilling permits.

Even as recession fears force commodity prices downward, gas prices are expected to continue to rise above $4-per-gallon. Uncertainty abroad, rising global demand, a shattered U.S. dollar and decreased domestic production all mean prices will continue to increase for hard-pressed American consumers.

When it comes to high gas prices, the House Republican plan would do little to bring down short-term prices. Even if Senate Democrats and President Obama were to go along with the drilling, baby, drilling, it would take months for the new crude to hit refineries and increase domestic supplies. Any short-term reduction would come from speculators jumping out on the bet of increased future production.

The Democratic proposal, however, would almost certainly raise gasoline prices as companies compensated for $4 billion in increased federal taxes. The plan proposed by President Obama and subsequently championed by Reid and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is part of a multi-year effort to encourage green energy (in part by keeping energy prices high).

Last year, America’s largest oil company, Exxon, paid about $10 billion in federal taxes and made a profit of about $30 billion. If the tax bill had been $11 billion, it is unlikely that Exxon shareholders would have wanted the money to come out of profits. The money instead would have come from consumers.

While Democrats are betting that consumers would feel good about seeing politicians sticking it to big oil in the form of tax increases, American drivers (and voters) would likely understand the basic economics of taxation. Plus, gas prices are helping to stunt the already puny recovery. For middle-class consumers, high gas prices mean disposable income vanishes.

But the House would never let the Democratic plan through, either.

The real issue in Washington is about the budget deals that continue behind closed doors. The Gang of Six is shrouded in doubt as Gang member and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad is threatening to start pushing his own debt-reduction proposal.

Democrats are stalled on how to proceed on obtaining an increase in the federal government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit, and Republicans are mostly waiting to see how that plays out before getting too jiggy about a 2012 budget proposal.

Until the dam breaks, trying to score points on gas prices will have to suffice.

House Bucks Obama: Bill Jump-Starts Gulf Oil Production

The cost of going to work every day has doubled for my family. I'm sure you all have the same experience. If gas prices continue to rise, it almost won't be worth going to work. democrats don't understand that out here in the real world, these things have consequences. When the government refuse to allow our oil comapnies to do their job, we all pay for it. We pay for it at the pump and we pay for it in national security concerns. It just doesn't seem like a great idea to me to buy oil from countries that hate us. How exactly, is that good business?

"Drill baby Drill" does make a good bumper sticker. And American companies drilling oil in our own Country is good, sound, energy policy. Buying oil from hugo chavez is poor policy...

by Audrey Hudson - Human Events

Republicans are banking on a measure approved by the House on Thursday to lower gasoline prices by accelerating offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The situation we find ourselves in today is detrimental to everyone who goes to the pump to fill their cars,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R.-Utah). “The cost of gas increases, and continues to increase because of the inaction of this administration.”

The de facto moratorium on offshore drilling imposed by President Obama after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy last year has forced the importation of an additional 130,000 barrels of oil a day to make up for the lost production, Republicans say.

Democrats argued that the bill would lead to future environmental tragedies and insisted that more oil is being safely produced under President Obama than in President Bush’s administration.

Republicans countered that Americans are expected to spend an additional $700 on gasoline this year.

“The administration’s strategy is to cut the standard of living … and beg Saudi Arabia to be nice to us,” Bishop said.

The legislation is the first of several measures Republicans will act on in the next week, and imposes strict time lines on the Obama administration to sell leases in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore from Virginia.

President Obama has since lifted the moratorium, but few permits are actually being approved, Republicans said.

“Unfortunately, the administration turned the tragedy into a catastrophe … one that destroys jobs,” Bishop said.

HR 1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, passed the House by a vote of 266 to 149, with 233 Republicans and 33 Democrats supporting the measure.

The Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that it opposes the legislation because it would undermine environmental protections and workplace safety.

The key measures are sponsored by Rep. Richard “Doc” Hastings (R.-Wash.), chairman of the House Energy Committee. The House on Tuesday will vote on HR 1229, which ends the moratorium and establishes new safety reviews.

“Continued tensions in the Middle East serve as a reminder that increased American energy production is as much of a national security issue as it is about jobs and lowering gasoline prices,” Hastings said.

“The United States has the most energy resources in the world and the American people are demanding that we utilize them to lower energy prices, create jobs, and make American less dependent on unstable foreign energy,” Hastings said.

Democrats said the measure reinforces the “myth” that America can drill itself out of foreign dependency.

“ 'Drill baby drill’ may look good on a bumper sticker, but it is not a sound energy policy,” said Jared Polis (D.-Colo.).

“This does not make filling up at the pump any more affordable to Americans at all,” Polis said.

Read the rest at the link above...

A little bit of fishing...

My Bride had another brother in town this weekend.

If you recall, I posted pictures last week from a trip to the range with her youngest brother.

The brother that was here this weekend brought his Bride and two little boys. My Bride decided we needed to treat them to a little fishing. We stocked our pond two springs ago and we have only fished it once prior to this weekend. Both occasions were catch and release. The pond is part of my food stores for the revolution or zombie apocolypse, whichever comes first.

Here is a sample of what we were catching. If the Brother-in-Law sends me his pictures I will try to post them too.

These are ome nice sized fish. We caught 8 or 10 of these and then a bunch of Blue Gill. It was fun for the little guys. And how about that shirt? One of my favorites. I wear it when ever I can, especially if there will be democrats around...

No government shutdown...

Well, I told you Boehner would give in. I think the $38.5 BILLION in cuts is less than the interest that accrued while they were arguing about it.

It wouldn't have hurt my feelings at all if the government had shut down, except congress and obama would have still been paid. That wouldn't have hurt my feelings, but it owuld have pissed me off.

I hope Boehner was good at what he did before he got into politics. He may be needing that job again sooner than he thinks. We elected these people, last November, to put a stop to the out of control spending and be tough about it. So far, not much has changed...

Shutdown looms and democrats lose what's left of their minds...

I have heard it all now.

The Republicans want old people to die...

The Republicans want to deny cancer screenings for women...

The Republicans want women to die...

This is complete bullshit. If the dumbass democrats had passed a budget last October, they wouldn't be fighting over continuing resolutions every few weeks. What they did instead was just decide to spend what ever they wanted to, without the restraints of a budget.

Now the Republicans are forced to reign in the out of control bleeding of money from washington. When things are as bad as they are currently in our government tough choices have to be made. Somebody has to have the balls to make those tough calls.

You know what, none of those calls involve starving old people or killing women. The democrats are a bunch of fucking drama queens. If they were willing to face the fact that our Country is flat broke, maybe they would understand what needs to be done. They aren't. They won't. They need therapy, shock therapy.

obama has put together a budget for 2012. Right out of the gate it has a TRILLION dollar deficit. Before the first tax dollar is spent, we are already an additional TRILLION dollars in the hole. Is that any way to run a Country? Look at this number $1,000,000,000,000.00. Can you even imagine that? Does your brain even register that many zeros? Mine doesn't, it's mind boggling. And the really messed up part of that is, we will have to borrow that TRILLION dollars from China. Do you know how long it is going to take to pay that money back, on top of all the other money we already owe them? Put it like this, your grandchildren will still be paying it back.

Over all, our deficit is in excess of $14,000,000,000,000.00. 14 TRILLION dollars. And the fucking democrats are acting like a bunch of drama queen, chicken little, crybabies over 61 BILLION dollars that the Republicans want to cut this year.

If you are stupid enough to believe that the upcoming shutdown is the fault of the Republicans, please seek a mental evaluation. Just look at the numbers involved and how we got to them. Also consider what I said above about the democrats refusing to put a budget in place. When you consider that it is against the law for them not to have a budget it is even uglier. And don't forget that when the budget was supposed to have been put in place, the democrats controlled the house, the senate and the presidency. Like I said before, a budget would have just gotten in the way of their spending. A liberal, anti-American agenda is expensive...

Obama Summons Lawmakers to White House Budget Talks

So, will Boehner cave today or later in the week? Because it isn't a question of if, just when. The worst about about it is that he is in the better position. The democrats need him to compromise, because they sure aren't planning on making any concessions. It's the same old story, compromise means the Republicans doing exactly what the democrats want...

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Monday summoned key lawmakers from both parties to the White House for budget talks in hopes of avoiding a government shutdown this weekend.

The White House said the president has invited House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and top negotiators on the appropriations committees to a session Tuesday.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney said time was running short and the president would urge the lawmakers to reach an agreement.

Carney said the White House was optimistic that a shutdown could be averted, but a top Republican did not share that optimism.

Boehner, R-Ohio, said there were still disagreements about how much to cut spending through Sept. 30, the end of the budget year. He accused the White House of bringing too many phony budget cuts to the table in hopes of restoring reductions made by Republicans in February.

"Despite attempts by Democrats to lock in a number among themselves, I've made clear that their $33 billion is not enough and many of the cuts that the White House and Senate Democrats are talking about are full of smoke and mirrors," Boehner said in a statement. "That's unacceptable."

Democratic officials knowledgeable about the proposals said the administration's ideas including taking unused money from federal highway programs and leftover funds from a program providing health care to middle-class families. Both ideas count in congressional budget terms as savings that could be used to pay for spending elsewhere in the day-to-day budgets of domestic agencies, but their practical effect is nil.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss proposals that haven't been made public.

Read therest at the link above...

AARP Tax Exemption Report at Center of Contentious Capitol Hill Hearing

You know, way back in November 2009, I wrote a brief post on the aarp and their support of obamacare. Their main goal in this was to kill Medicare Advantage, a good selling product that was in direct competition with one they were selling. Their product, or the product they were/are pimping was more expensive and provided less coverage.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it against the law for a church to pimp a political candidate? If I'm not mistaken, they can lose their tax exempt status over such actions. It would seem that the backing of a political aganda or candidate should result in the loss of tax exempt status for any 501c4 organization. The Republicans should pursue this fully.

I have told the aarp my point of view on this and several other issues on more than one occasion. It's funny, I never hear back from them. I'm willing to bet though, that when I near retirement age they will want to talk to me. Fat chance...

By Doug McKelway - FoxNews

A Republican-authored report on alleged financial irregularities within AARP has met with deep resistance among Democratic lawmakers and AARP senior executives.

The report, entitled "Behind the Veil: The AARP America Doesn't Know," alleges that the AARP violated its tax exempt status by, in effect, selling health insurance policies and by actively lobbying for the massive health care law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama last year.

Both those activities, Republicans say, violate the spirit of 501c4 tax-exempt organizations, which are supposed to "promote the common good and social welfare of a community of people."

Confronted with the report during an oversight hearing Friday held by the House Ways and Means Committee, senior AARP managers recoiled at its accusations.

"We do not sell insurance," Barry Rand, chief executive officer of AARP told the committee. He described AARP's insurance related revenues as "royalties."

In such an arrangement, AARP receives a fee from private insurers in exchange for tweaking their policies, accepting an AARP "brand" and selling those polices to AARP members.

In 2009, AARP revenues from such royalties amounted to two and a half times the amount the association received from member dues.

Read the rest at the link above...

Schumer coordinates Dem budget attack on GOP

I'm sure that Republicans do some of this themselves, but I just can't see them being as devious and underhanded as democrats. democrats spend millions of dollars doing focus groups and studies to find these hot button words. These are words that are supposed to make us angry. Actually these words do make me angry, angry at the democrat thugs who try to play stupid mind games and manipulate us into believing what they say. Don't fall for the stupid games people. And when you hear these people speak, remember that they are trying to use tricks to twist your thinking, then judge their words on that...

By: Susan Ferrechio - The Washington Examiner

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Democratic Senate leadership, got on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning without realizing the reporters were already listening in. Schumer thought he was on a private line with four Democratic senators who were to talk with reporters about the current budget stalemate.

Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.

He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."

"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."

Someone must have finally told Schumer that the media were listening and he stopped talking midsentence.

Here's a bit more of what he said about House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, according to my notes.

"The main thrust is basically that we want to negotiate and we want to come up with a compromise but the Tea Party is pulling Boehner too far over to the right and so far over that there is no more fruitful negotiations," Schumer said on the call. "The only way we can avoid a shutdown is for Boehner to come up with a reasonable compromise and not just listen to what the Tea Party wants. "

Read the rest at the link above...

Obama 'Prepared' to Tap Oil Reserve in Response to Gas Prices

More lies from obama. Every word that comes out of his mouth is either a lie or just dumb. He is trting to claim that his administration is issuing tons of permits for off shore drilling. He is a liar. They have denied permits, even going as far as fighting the release of permits in court.

obama and his administration have made it clear, even saying as much, that their desire is for us to be paying as much for gasoline as it costs in Europe. This would help them accomplish many of their socialist goals. It would bankrupt what is left of our economy. It would force people to drive shitty little electric death traps that aren't fully developed and cost more than most people's house. The economic collapse that would be caused by $8 dollar per gallon gas would force millions more people onto the government welfare system. On and on. obama has no intention of getting in a hurry to release the strategic reserves or issue drilling permits. Any claims to the opposite are bullshit political games to try to gain support.

This guy needs to be run out of town. He hates our Country and he hates us...

From FoxNews

President obama, addressing frantic appeals from lawmakers to do something in response to rising gas prices, said Friday he is "prepared" to tap into the country's ample oil reserve if necessary. The president, in a nod to Republicans, also said he favors boosting domestic drilling in a responsible way.

But the president said improvements in energy efficiency are the only way to break U.S. dependence on foreign oil in the long term, and dismissed as political posturing Republicans' claims that his environmental policies have choked off American drilling.

"It doesn't match up with reality," the president said, prompting more criticism from GOP lawmakers who claimed he was stretching the truth.

As turmoil in the Middle East shakes the oil markets, obama said the United States needs a "comprehensive energy strategy." He called a press conference Friday specifically to address that point -- and while it was consumed by questions about possible military intervention in Libya, the tsunami in Japan, and the budget debate on Capitol Hill, obama tried to assure Americans that he empathizes with their concerns about gas prices.

"For Americans already facing tough times, it's an added burden," he said. obama also stressed that the United States should be able to weather any disruption due to the unrest in Libya.

Answering the calls of Democrats, he said his administration is prepared to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He would not specify the conditions that would trigger tapping the reserve but said it was teed up and could happen quickly if he should choose to call for it. The government is cautious about going to the petroleum reserve, typically holding off except in very extreme cases such as 2005's Hurricane Katrina near the Gulf of Mexico drilling areas. 

Read the rest at the link above...

Wisconsin Senate GOP Votes to Strip State Workers of Collective Bargaining Rights

Down in Texas we have a saying, there is more than one way to skin a cat. The Wisconsin Republicans finally figured that out. It's too bad for the people of the State that half of their elected senators chose to abandon the State in it's hour of need. They have shown their true colors, and it wouldn't surprise me if the did it "to their political peril".

From FoxNews

Bypassing Democrats hiding out in Illinois, Wisconsin Senate Republicans voted Wednesday night to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Republicans voted 18-1 to pass the stripped-down budget bill in a hastily arranged meeting. None of the Senate Democrats were present.

The state Assembly votes on the bill Thursday.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" -- a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall..

The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved that bill a short time later.

The lone Democrat present on the conference committee, Rep. Tony Barca, shouted that the surprise meeting was a violation of the state's open meetings law but Republicans voted over his objections. The Senate then convened within minutes and passed it without discussion or debate.

Spectators in the gallery screamed "You are cowards."

Before the sudden votes, Democratic Sens. Bob Jauch said if Republicans "chose to ram this bill through in this fashion, it will be to their political peril. They're changing the rules. They will inflame a very frustrated public."

Walker praised the legislative action.

"The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused," he said in a statement.

"In order to move the state forward, I applaud the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform the government," he said. "The action today will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs."

State Senate Democratic Minority Leader Mark Miller issued a statement saying, "Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government."

The Insanity of a $6.1 Billion Dollar Debate

As you may have heard, both the Republican $61 BILLION dollar plan and the democrat joke $6 billion dollar plan were voted down today. Neither of them could even get a majority vote. What this tells me is that neither party has any interest in cutting the deficit.

Like T.L. points out, while these dumbasses were debating the bills, the interest on the debt racked up more than the democrat proposal.

Our Nation has taken out a huge payday loan. I'm sure you are familiar with the tactics those guys use. It is designed to keep you in debt, long term, paying interest and never making any headway on your principal. That's where we are, except we aren't even paying the interest. I put up a link to a debt clock a few days ago. Please, take a minute and check it out. If it had hands on it you could use it as a fan. I know the dollar figures are more than a normal person can wrap their brain around, but it will give you an idea of what kind of trouble we are in. The thing that scares me the most is that the politicians don't seem to get the seriousness of the situation. They just keep spending! We don't have any money! We are borrowing money to pay back money we borrowed! What would happen if you tried that with your family budget?

Go read the rest of this post over at TL in Exile, the link is below...

By T.L.Davis - TL in Exile

The sitting congress and the president should right now, be run out of office, impeached, recalled, physically chased, if that's what it takes. Here's the reason: the congress is right now debating budget cuts. Those who have been in charge for 2 years have run up a deficit of 5 trillion dollars. They did that, the Democrats. They didn't even have the ability to pass a budget. Now, the Democrats argue for budget cuts of $6.1 billion.

The insanity of this debate is this: by the time the congress has argued for cutting the budget for one week, there is a debt accumulation that would wipe out the entire $6.1 billion dollars they are arguing about. At these levels of debt, it is not a one for one effect either. In other words, cutting $6.1 billion dollars does not mean that debt reduction is achieved by any significant amount. $6.1 billion dollars represents less than 1/20 th of 1% of our debt (I am not the best at math) I do know that 1/10 th of 1% of our debt is $14 billion.

Wisconsin Governor Proposes Union Compromise in E-Mails

I hope this is just a ploy to get the democrats back in the State where Gov. Walker can lock them up. He has stood his ground this long, it would be a shame for him to cave now.

The democrats have refused to do their job. The people of the State of Wisconsin elected the Republican majority and Governor to clean up a broken budget. To show weakness now will doom him to compromise for the rest of his term...

From FoxNews

Appearing to blink first in a nearly three-week standoff with absent Senate Democrats, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offered to keep certain collective bargaining rights in place for state workers in a proposed compromise, according to e-mails released Tuesday by his office.

But the e-mails weren't enough to end a stalemate that has drawn national attention and ignited a storm of protest from union workers and their supporters.

Sen. Bob Jauch, one of the 14 Democrats on the run in Illinois to block a vote on Walker's original proposal, said he hoped the compromise would serve as a blueprint for future negotiations. But he and Sen. Tim Cullen, who were both working with Walker's administration, said the latest offer was inadequate.

The e-mails, some dated as recently as Sunday, show a softened stance in Walker's talks with the 14 Democrats who object to his original proposal that would strip nearly all collective bargaining rights for public workers and force concessions amounting to an average 8 percent pay cut. Republicans, who control the Senate, can't vote on the budget measure unless at least one Democrat is present.

Under the compromise floated by Walker and detailed in the e-mails, workers would be able to continue bargaining over their salaries with no limit, a change from his original plan that banned negotiated salary increases beyond inflation. He also proposed compromises allowing collective bargaining to stay in place on mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size for teachers.

The increased contributions for health insurance and pension, which would save the state $330 million by mid-2013, would remain. The unions and Democrats have agreed to those concessions to help balance a projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall.

Freshman Democrat Joe Manchin: Obama has 'failed to lead' on budget

It's amusing when democrats turn on each other. Joe Manchin has an excellent point though, obama isn't a leader. He is a divider. He has forced partisan politics to a level we haven't seen in years. He has set race relations back a good 50 years. Now he is even dividing his own party.

obama has a couple of good excuses on the budget though. One, he is absolutely clueless on how to solve this crisis. His advisors are just as lost as he is. And two, he is addicted to spending, he can't stop. He will never understand that we can't spend our way out of this mess. And all of those TRILLIONS of dollars, they aren't free money. There is no such thing...

By Jennifer Epstein & Scott Wong - Politico

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin ripped President Barack Obama on his budget proposals in a Senate floor speech Tuesday, a rare rebuke from a freshman Democrat who clearly is worried about the politics of deficit spending as he faces a tough reelection in 2012.

Manchin charged the president with failing to lead the way in reducing spending, while also criticizing Republicans for offering “partisan” and “unrealistic” budget proposals.

“Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations — our president — has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?”

The full-throated rejection of the president’s spending proposals by a politically vulnerable Democrat is just the latest worrisome sign for Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who have yet to rally their party around a unified spending plan. Indeed, Democratic leaders are having trouble just keeping moderates on board — Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) also have expressed skepticism that Democrats are willing to cut enough spending to satisfy voters and make a dent in the deficit.

Manchin will vote against both the Senate Democrats’ proposal, which will cut $10.6 billion below current spending levels and the House Republican version of the continuing resolution, which would cut $61 billion. The Senate is expected to vote on both this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, and neither is expected to pass.

Read the rest at the link above...

$223 BILLION dollar deficit in February...

The federal government posted the largest single month deficit in history in February. $223 BILLION dollars, did you get that number? I said $223 B I L L I O N dollars, in ONE month.

The old record was last February, and that was a mere $220.9 BILLION dollars.

Last month was the 29th straight month that our government ran a deficit. Another record!

obama should be so proud, two records in one month!

Do you have any idea how many generations of our children, grand children, etc. it is going to take to pay back all of the debt obama and the democrats have racked up in the last two years? Me neither, but you can bet your ass it will be several.

Go visit this debt clock site. It will scare the hell out of you. It has a lot of other information on it too, like bankruptcies and forclosures, interest on the national debt, etc. We are in some very bad trouble people...

Obama Faces Bipartisan Criticism on Energy Policies

It must be getting close to election time if democrats are openly disagreeing with obama on energy policy. democrats don't give a damn about the price of gas or what it costs to heat our homes. They care about the next election.

obama has declared war on all things energy, coal, oil, nuclear, to fit his agenda. He has a lot riding on the green energy bullshit. He has made lots of investments in green technology to help him maintain the whitehouse lifestyle after we boot his ass out of office.

He doesn't care that thousands of jobs are tied to those anti-energy policies. He doesn't care that those of us paying close to four dollars a gallon for gas are going to suffer greatly because of it.

While the turmoil in the middle east has caused prices to skyrocket, if we were utilizing the resources we have available here, we wouldn't be as affected by events overseas.

Playing politics with the lives of average citizens is wrong but that is exactly what obama and his gang of thugs are doing...

By Jim Angle - FoxNews

With energy prices rising in part because of turmoil in the Middle East, lawmakers from both parties are questioning the Obama administration's energy policies and arguing more should be done to develop domestic sources of energy.

"I don't think the president's position on oil and gas is as strong as it should be,” said Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, where the oil industry plays a large role in the local economy. “Oil and gas is an important industry in the United States today and it will be in the next decades.”

Many in the administration emphasize alternative forms of energy and some, including the president, have openly talked of the need for higher prices on oil and coal to make alternatives such as wind and solar more price-competitive.

Landrieu and most other lawmakers embrace an "all of the above" strategy, saying all forms of energy should be developed. But both Republicans and Democrats note that it will be decades before the need for oil is significantly reduced, so why not produce more of it? The U.S. use 20 million barrels a day but produces only seven million.

After the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf last April, the administration imposed a moratorium on new permits. That was lifted in October, but until this week, no permits had been issued for deepwater drilling.

“I think what should be unmistakably clear is that the policy that we have in this administration is to support oil and gas drilling, both in the shallow waters as well as in the deep waters, and we just want to make sure that it's done right and in an environmentally safe way,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing this week.

The Interior Department granted a single deepwater permit on Monday, saying before it could continue issuing permits, it had to certify that new wells have containment capacity in the case of another blowout. Though he would not lay out a timeline, Salazar told senators that the department will move forward with permits for deepwater drilling. He also offered reassurances about future petroleum exploration and production.

"In terms of the Gulf of Mexico production, we continue to have a robust production, as we did this last year and we expect to continue to have a robust production in 2011 as well,” Salazar said.

But Sen. Landrieu noted that before the blowout, the government's own experts said production in the Gulf of Mexico this year would be 1.77 million barrels a day. Now that projection has dropped to 1.39 million.

In 2012, the government originally projected production of 1.82 million barrels a day, but now sees a decline to 1.14 million barrels a day.

That is a drop of 680,000 barrels a day, which equals about half of the global exports from Libya. Unrest in Libya has led to concerns over a disruption in that country’s exports, creating fears that are driving oil prices higher.

At the same time, some Republican senators charge the Environmental Protection Agency is out to kill the coal industry.

More than half the nation's electricity comes from coal, and Senate Minority Leader McConnell, R-Ky., accuses the EPA of sitting on mine applications, noting 79 are now in bureaucratic limbo.

"The EPA has turned the permitting process into a back-door means of shutting down coal mines by sitting on permits indefinitely, thus removing any regulatory certainty," he said.

So McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and others introduced a bill to force the EPA to use or lose its veto over mine applications within 60 days.

Layoffs coming in Wisconsin...

Governor Walker notified the unions in Wisconsin that layoffs are coming. With the refusal of the scumbag democrats to do their job, he has no choice but take a different approach.

I tink his approach is wrong though. I wouldn't lay off anyone, I would outright fire their asses and replace them with people who want a job. I would have fired the teachers on the morning of the third day they missed class. There are lots of unemployed teachers who would love to have the jobs that the teachers in Wisconsin seem to care so little for.

As far as the awol democrats, I would assist the people of the State in beginning recall proceedings. In my opinion, these people have abandoned their jobs and should be treated as such. These democrats are denying the people of their State representation...

Tea Party Group Calls Out John Boehner

I can't be completely critical of Boehner on this, I mean they did cut $61 BILLION dollars. Sure, it's not $100 BILLION and they have been able to hit that number without much difficulty, but it's a start.

I do have some other issues with Boehner though. He needs to quit folding every time the democrats balk at something. I would rather nothing gets done than more of the obama agenda...

by Peter Doocy - FoxNews

"Charlie Sheen is now making more sense than John Boehner." At least that's what Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips says, and he doesn't mean it as a compliment.

The Tea Party Nation called out Speaker Boehner because the federal budget the House passed cut $61 billion, instead of the $100 billion they wanted. Their anger was amplified when Boehner hailed that budget's passage through the House as a success.

"If this is the best John Boehner can do and John Boehner is the only hope we have right now, then we are sunk," Phillips writes. "By the time we can replace Obama as president, in 2013, we will be trillions of dollars of more into debt and may hit the point of economic collapse."

This group is so discouraged with the Speaker of the House, they think someone else would be better suited for his job. So, defeating Boehner in the 2012 Ohio primary is now a priority for the Tea Party Nation. "The Tea Party movement should find a candidate to run against John Boehner in 2012 and should set as a goal, to defeat in a primary, the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives," Phillips writes in a piece called "The honeymoon is over: It is time to primary John Boehner," posted on the Tea Party Nation Forum.

After calling for a Republican challenger, and listing his group's grievances with the Speaker, Phillips concludes his letter with a simple but direct insult for Boehner. "You look like a fool."

Speaker Boehner's office has not yet commented publicly about this criticism.

Wisconsin battle gets ugly...

It's funny really, it's always liberals trying to paint conservatives as violent and hateful, but it always turns out to be the opposite.

In Wisconsin, the protestors against the Governor Scott Walker are comparing him to adolph hitler and the recently deposed dictator of Egypt, hosni mubarack.

I haven't seen Scott Walker order millions of government employees into a gas chamber for execution. I'm 100% positive that we never will. So the comparison to hitler is, well, stupid. Obviously these protestors either have no knowledge of history or they are going for some kind of shock factor. Since many of these people are teachers, I hope they have some idea of the history of hitler and World War II. So that leaves only their attempt at shock. It is deplorable and shameful to try to compare the murder of millions of people with the current events in Wisconsin. These protestor should be ashamed of themselves.

As for the comparison to mubarack, again, a situation where innocent people lost their lives. These protestors have no idea what it is like to have true violence aimed at them. In Egypt the military fired on unarmed civilians and the civilians held their ground. I have a hard time believing that the Wisconsin protestors are made of the same stuff as the people of Egypt. They are lucky enough to live in a Country where they never have to find out. This comparison is also stupid.

There have also been calls for the assassination of Governor Walker. Who is it again that are the violent ones?

michael moore decided to put his two cents worth in, and you can guess which side of the issue this idiot is on.

It seems that the liberal/democrat/union whackos are the violent ones. Maybe I'm wrong, but the evidence seem to support me on this...