Position:  Senior counsel, Legal Department, Illinois Housing Development Authority

Salary:  $75,000/year

Candidate selected:  Roland W. Burris II

Date of hire:  September 10, 2008

Qualifications:  

• Prior resolution of 2 personal federal tax liens
• Currently liable for personal federal tax lien covering the years 2004, 2005, 2007 ($34,163 unpaid), applied in July, 2008
• Currently in foreclosure for $372,000 mortgage taken out on July 18, 2006 (filed by lender in August 2008)
  • Less than $3,000 paid
  • Balance due:  $406,685 (including interest and penalties)
  • House bought in 2000 from the City of Chicago for $1.00

According to Rebecca Boykin, “Roland Burris II was hired by the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Legal Department based on his qualifications in response to a published job posting.  As an employer, it is not IHDA’s practice to request financial information from applicants.”

Why not?  This job is to help counsel people about how to avoid home foreclosure.  Wouldn’t you think it appropriate and – most importantly – beneficial to the citizens of Illinois to hire someone who actually knows how to pay their bills?

Makes you wonder just what kind of other talks never took place between old Daddy and Roddy, doesn’t it?

I can barely stand to read any more of this.

The $410 billion Omnibus bill passed by the House yesterday contains some $7.7 billion “disclosed” earmarks.

The Democrats and mouthpiece, Nancy Pelosi, are defending them by blaming former President Bush for failing to address the country’s priorities last year.

But President Obama continues to continue to campaign on a platform of fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Unbelievable.

And continuingly equally unbelievable that so many Americans actually voted to put these hypocrites in office.

Seems that cheating really is a way of life in Washington.  So deeply ingrained that any attempt to bring accountability into the decision-making processes is met with immediate, blind, stubborn resistence.

President Obama’s continuing “hopey-changey” bipartisan lip service to responsibility and transparency notwithstanding.

Foxnews reports today that the House killed a resolution by Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) that would have set into motion investigation into ties between sources and timing of campaign contributions by lobbyists and the subsequent legislator requests for special projects or earmarks. 

“Whereas numerous press reports and editorials have alleged several cases of influence peddling between members of Congress and outside interests seeking federal funding, the House of Representatives should respond to such claims and demonstrate integrity in its proceedings.”

This would effectively the skirts of our elected representatives and show the whole world just how dirty is the business of running our government (into the ground).

Though it didn’t single out anyone in particular, it was apparently prompted by an ongoing federal investigation of the PMA Group, a lobbying company accused of making fraudulent donations to lawmakers using names of people who did not exist. 

According to the Fox story, the PMG Group, “which has contributed millions to politicians in the last decade, has close ties to senior Democratic appropriators including Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Pete Visclosky, D-Ind.  The FBI raided PMA’s headquarters in November and is investigating the group’s founder and president, Paul Magliochetti, a former Murtha aide.”

“The vote came just after the House approved a $410 billion spending to fund the government this year, which also contained $8.8 million on projects sought by clients of the PMA lobbying group.”

God bless ya, Jeff.  But apparently the crowd doesn’t want anyone to know the Emperor has no clothes on.

“I am committed to restoring a sense of honesty and accountability to our budget. … For seven years, we have been a nation at war.  No longer will we hide its price.”

So joked President Obama last night in his prime-time televised campaign speech…errrr…in his address to Congress. 

Here’s the punchline.  It was reported today that the top military officers and civilians working on the military’s budget had to sign a letter promising to keep the details secret.  Even though Defense Secretary Robert Gates never required one while serving under President Bush.

Fox News obtained a copy and says the agreement commits those signing it not to divulge “budget-related information” including planning, programming and other aspects. 

It also states that a “significant factor in the successful and proper preparation and completion of the president’s budget is the strict confidentiality that must be observed,” and that a failure to comply with that confidentiality could “compromise” the administration’s ability to draft and submit its spending plan. 

We have, however, been assured by that most gracious (sic) man himself, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, that the president’s budget will be “honest and transparent.”

Let’s play a little game, shall we?  Can you tell me who made the following statements?

1.)  “Israel no longer even pretends to seek peace with the Palestinians; it strives instead to pacify them.”

America must deal with terrorism due to “the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation that is about to mark its fortieth anniversary and shows no sign of ending.”

Translation:  Israel is the enemy and it is American support of Israel that is the root cause of terrorist threats against the United States. 

2.)  Any threat from the Chinese is merely “a great fund-raiser for the hyper-expensive advanced weaponry our military-industrial complex prefers to make and our armed forces love to employ.”

 “The truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the [Tiananmen Square] demonstrations in the bud.”

“The Politburo’s response to the mob scene at ‘Tiananmen’ stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.” 

“I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be.”

Translation:  The massacre at Tiananmen Square was an acceptable response, for the people should not have a voice.

Unless you’ve been very, very good about reading all the news today, you are probably thinking this comes from some foreign-based lunatic, right?  Unfortunately, no.  These are quotes from one Charles “Chas” Freeman, Jr., a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has just been appointed by President Obama as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. 

Yes, indeedy.  These and other anti-Semitic* and equally vile statements have come from the mouth of an American.  An American whom President Barack Hussein Obama wishes to chair the group that was created to provide factual and unbiased mid- and long-term strategic thinking for the U.S. Intelligence community.

That’s a choice about as “fair and balanced” as the mainstream media, if you ask me.  And even if you didn’t ask me I’ll still tell you that it’s bad, bad news.

What should truly frighten you is that this appointment requires no Senate confirmation.  So President Obama’s choice will stand, regardless the damage it does to this country’s ability to remain level-headed when other countries go into a tailspin.  Indeed, I would venture to guess that this is yet another not-so-subtle jab at Israel, another hint that our ally is being set up to take the fall for us with Iran.

Is this some low-budget B-movie version of the bipartisanship so often touted, nay, promised by President Obama?  How in the name of anything holy or unholy does this dangerously bigoted choice help the people of Israel “search for credible partners with whom they can make peace”?  How on earth does such a tyrannical perspective further those hope and change promises to support and advance human rights?

Was it all yet another lie to toss on the already high and stinking pile or are we going to hear yet another “oops!”?  If the President couldn’t be bothered to read the stimulus bill, I suppose he couldn’t be bothered to read any background information about Charles Freeman, Jr., either.

 

  

 

* – “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” by professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, recently published by the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC). The Wall Street Journal states that this controversial 2006 essay argued that American Jews have a “stranglehold” on the U.S. Congress, which they employ to tilt the U.S. toward Israel at the expense of broader American interests.  Charles Freeman, Jr. has both endorsed the paper’s thesis and boasted of MEPC’s intrepid stance:  “No one else in the United States has dared to publish this article, given the political penalties that the Lobby imposes on those who criticize it.”

 While Wall Street continues to writhe as its money belt grows tighter and tighter, and homeowners who “over-extended” are getting ready to join hands with ACORN and sing kumbya while they break back into foreclosed and sold homes, and tax cheats continue to come pouring out of the nomination woodwork like so many earwigs who’ve gotten a whiff of the pesticide, the President continues to blithely campaign on with his platform of fiscal responsibility. 

So, of course, Congress is now hard at work on the  Omnibus Spending Bill.  A $410 billion dollar lump of lard to be tossed onto that pork pile affectionately referred to as bullshit.  Errr…the stimulus bill.

So just what will Congress do with $410 billion of our tax dollars?  Well, for one snicker, here’s a snippet of what is proposed in the “Financial Services and General Governmental Appropriations” section, under the heading “IMPROVING SERVICES FOR TAXPAYERS AND CATCHING TAX CHEATS”:

• Closing the Tax Gap: An estimated $290 billion in taxes owed go unpaid every year, leaving responsible taxpayers stuck paying for tax cheats.
• Enforcement: $5.1 billion, $337 million above 2008, to catch tax cheats through audits, collection efforts, and improved technology.
• Business Systems Modernization: $230 million to improve IRS efficiency and accuracy by updating outdated computer systems.

Seems to me that a hefty chunk would be readily collected just by auditing everyone in Congress.  It’s worked really well so far with cabinet nominees. 

But the big kicker, included here in its entirety for your reading pleasure, is the section that includes the monies we send to other countries.

 

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Press Contact: Kirstin Brost, Full Committee, 202-225-2771

Matthew Dennis, Chairman Lowey, 202-225-6506

SUMMARY: 2009 STATE AND FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS

CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS BILL

Bill Total

2008 Enacted: $32.8 billion

President’s Request: $38.2 billion

Final Bill: $36.6 billion

KEY INVESTMENTS

State Department and USAID Operations, Staff and Security:

• Diplomatic and Consular Programs: $4.2 billion, $464 million above 2008 for diplomatic operations and to hire an estimated 500 additional positions to fill existing vacancies in the Foreign and Civil Service.
• World Wide Embassy Security Protection: $1.1 billion for ongoing security protection to ensure that U.S. embassy personnel are safe and secure.

Operating Expenses for USAID: $808.5 million, $178 million above 2008, to allow USAID to hire 300 additional foreign service officers as part of the Development Leadership Initiative.

 Global Health: $7.1 billion to strengthen the global public health infrastructure and surveillance network in order to save lives overseas and to protect the health of Americans.

• HIV/AIDS: $5.5 billion for international HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs including $600 million for multilateral programs through the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
• Global Health and Child Survival: $1.6 billion for other global health programs including increases of nearly $50 million for maternal and child health programs, $35 million to fight malaria, $11 million to fight tuberculosis, and $82 million for international family planning.

 Humanitarian Assistance:

• Refugee Assistance: $971 million, $104 million above 2008 (not including $350 million in emergency appropriations), to help displaced people around the world with food, water, shelter and other basic needs– including humanitarian assistance for Gaza.
• Disaster Assistance: $350 million, $30 million above 2008, (not including $200 million in emergency appropriations) to avert famines and provide life-saving assistance during natural disasters and for internally displaced people in Iraq and elsewhere around the world.

 Basic Education: $700 million for grants to organizations that support basic education. This includes $240 million to help countries that have national education plans as part of the Fast Track Initiative – the international commitment to provide all children with access to a quality education.

Improving Access to Safe Drinking Water: $300 million for safe water programs, including help to increase access to safe drinking water (such as pumps and wells); build water systems; and expand safe hygiene programs.

Energy and the Environment: $424 million for clean energy and biodiversity programs worldwide, including funding for the Global Environmental Facility and international conservation programs to work with developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preserve parks, and protect wildlife.

Middle East Security Assistance: $2.4 billion for Israel (not including $170 million in emergency appropriations) fulfilling the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel, $1.5 billion in economic and security assistance for Egypt, and $498.5 million in economic and security assistance for Jordan.

Sudan: $762 million for critical humanitarian, development and peacekeeping programs. Of this amount, $414 million supports the UN Mission in Darfur.  (SIDENOTE:  None of the resolutions passed by the Security Council regarding Darfur have been implemented.)

Merida Initiative: $405 million for counter-narcotics and law enforcement programs in Mexico and Central America (not including $465 million in emergency appropriations).

International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement: $875 million, $318.6 million above 2008, to strengthen law enforcement, support counternarcotics efforts, combat transnational crime, terrorist networks and other illicit enterprises worldwide.

Peacekeeping Activities

• UN Peacekeeping Missions: $1.5 billion, for Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities. These funds support UN peacekeeping missions around the world including in Sudan, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo and Lebanon.
• Targeted Peacekeeping Operations: $250.2 million for Peacekeeping Operations, to advance international support for voluntary multi-national peacekeeping and stabilization efforts, including support for international missions not supported by the UN but of particular interest to the United States.

 Educational and Cultural Exchanges: $538 million, $37 million above 2008, to fund educational, cultural and professional exchange programs worldwide.

Broadcasting: $709 million, $40 million above 2008, for radio programs critical to the nation’s overall public diplomacy efforts.

Peace Corps: $340 million, $9 million above 2008, for the program which has over 7,800 volunteers in 70 posts serving 76 countries.

Democracy Fund: $116 million to the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and to the USAID, Office of Democracy and Governance to promote democracy, including support for human rights, media, and the rule of law.

SIGNIFICANT CUTS

Millennium Challenge Corporation: $875 million, $669 million below 2008 and $1.35 billion below President Bush’s request. This program has been cut because of slow program implementation, making funds provided in this bill sufficient to move forward on new compacts.

Andean Counterdrug Program: $315 million, $4.8 million below 2008 and $91.8 million below President Bush’s request. Additional funds were provided for Andean programs through other accounts to support core interdiction, eradication and economic development programs in the Andean region.

  

As I’ve noted before, Americans are an incredibly generous people, regularly and freely sending more money to help relief efforts in other countries than what is provided by our government.  So you would think that right here, right now, with a deficit quickly heading to for a makeup of as many zeros as Congress, our government would put all this money to work to help those very same Americans.  Not in some protectionist forever-fantasy, but just for a little while.  Instead of continuing to spend us deeper and deeper into debt.  Especially when that debt goes to help those who do not have America’s best interests at heart.

One example among many buried in this budget document is the tangled mess surrounding Darfur.  As noted above, the so-called major players of the UN have done little except murmur sympathetically, while China (or Russia, depending upon who you read) is reportedly supplying Sudan weapons being used against civilians; meantime Egypt and Saudi Arabia go about poo-pooing the whole mess as being a cover-up intended to distract the world from – can you guess? – Israel’s “atrocities”.

Of course it’s a disaster and though there is little enough we can do, it is even less when we are struggling to simply survive, too.

Tonight’s first Congressional address by President Obama was, in a word, a snooze.  I didn’t hear anything different than before he was elected; not that one should hold much in the way of expectations after only a month in office but gloating over passing a 1,073 page piece of legislation without having even read it was, frankly, pretty crass and should be (yet another) warning to those who would take this man as seriously as he apparently takes himself.

One amusing tidbit was his statement about helping homeowners stay in their homes.  Slap me silly and call me a little acorn; “It’s a plan that won’t help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford….”

According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, however, we should, indeed, help save some of those people for (what else?) the greater good.  He uses the example of calling the fire department to put out a blaze set by someone smoking in bed.  He said, “I think the smart way to deal with a situation like that is to put out the fire, save him from his own consequences of his own action but then, going forward, enact penalties and set tougher rules about smoking in bed.”

As if going out of her way to give Ben a bit of justification, Sheila Blair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told NPR, “I think it’s just simply impractical to try to do a forensic analysis of each and every one of these delinquent loans.”  Which not-so-subtly tells us that homeowners who overstated their income or assets to get a mortgage they couldn’t afford will most assuredly be making the line even longer by standing there with their hands out, too.

Sorry, Ben, but you just can’t legislate morality.  Sure, if my next-door neighbor is stupid enough to set his house on fire, I’m willing to pay the taxes to have the firetruck come over and put it out.  Because then my house won’t burn down and possibly kill me, too.  But when it comes to matters that do not directly involve life and death – and no, those few extra thousand square feet you and your spouse and maybe one child rarely rattle around in don’t count – you can, as the President is so fond of saying, do the right thing and do whatever it takes (you great Americans, you) to hold people accountable for their actions.  If we’re losing “5 million jobs a month” (according to Nancy Pelosi, anyway), surely there are a few thousand accountants in the mix who would be happy to have a job, even a temporary one working for the FDIC.  The truth is that fairness is not really so impractical – unless you have another agenda.

Honestly, if people are that stupid as to get in that far over their heads – predatory lenders or no predatory lenders because no one held a gun to anyone’s head to borrow more money than they could afford to pay back – let ’em go find something within their means and put that money – our tax money – towards insuring that everyone can do simple addition and subtraction.

This will also kill 2 more birds with one stone.  We’ll need more police officers to keep up with arresting ACORN members for tresspass and breaking and entering, thereby creating more jobs and, following the precedent set by President Obama, create yet another law-breaker revenue stream. 

It’s just as viable an idea as those stellar ones coming from the Ivy Leagues, if you ask me.

…then you know he’s lying.

That’s all I have to say about President Obama’s first campaign speech…errrr…first address to Congress, scheduled to begin shortly.  A preview of prepared remarks released ahead of time include this particularly poignant little morsel:  that the current economic crisis “will not determine the destiny of this nation.” 

Considering the wholesale socialization being served up with the pork…errr…with the stagnation…errrr…with the stimulus bill, I think that this deliberately-manufactured crisis will, indeed, determine the destiny of this fair Republic.  And when you throw in Obama’s support for U.N. atrocities such as Durban II and the Millenium Goals, I believe we are looking down the barrel of WWIII and a future that will bear little resemblance to the past and the freedoms we have enjoyed unless the American people open their eyes and use our remaining freedoms to shut down the 3-ring circus of Orchid Office, See-not, and foreclosed House, instead of sitting there drooling and waiting for someone to come along and fill their sippy cups.