The Obama Record - by Professor Robert Watson, Lynn University - A most important document that should be read by all Americans!

                                  THE OBAMA RECORD

Like all presidents, Barack Obama has enjoyed accomplishments but also made mistakes. As a presidential historian, however, I have been struck by claims being put forward by Obama’s many critics and the news media that he has accomplished little when, in fact, his presidency is easily one of the most active in history. As such, with all the misinformation circulating on talk radio, at town hall meetings, and in the blogosphere about the President, here is a fact-checked list of some of President Obama’s initiatives. At the end are some interesting factoids and misconceptions about the President.

Robert P. Watson, Ph.D.

Lynn University

October 4, 2011

 BUDGETING

• Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut federal spending (2009)

• Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify wasteful spending and practices (2009)

• Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient (2009)

• Signed Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act (May 22, 2009)

• Overturned the Bush-era practice of not listing certain federal programs in the federal budget (2009) (2010) * Note: Bush did this (so did Reagan) in an effort to hide programs and make the budget look smaller; such “off budget” items are now included in the annual budget

• Full appropriations for war are now included in the budget (2009-2011) * Note: Bush did not list many of the appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Terror

• Funds for emergency appropriations are now included in the budget (2009-2011)

• Signed statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act (Feb 12, 2010) after urging Congress to adopt “Pay-Go” (whereby each dollar of spending is offset by a dollar in cuts or revenues, which was used in the `90s but abandoned in the `00s)

• Proposed a three-year freeze on federal discretionary spending beginning in 2011 (2010)

• Is in the process of cutting 120 federal programs identified as either wasteful or unnecessary (2010-2011)

• Established a bipartisan commission on fiscal responsibility, staffed by House and Senate members and private citizens, tasked with submitting proposals to balance the budget (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered down

• Established a bipartisan commission on the future of Social Security, tasked with submitting proposals to preserve and strengthen Social Security (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered down

• Cut $20 billion from federal budget and has pledged to cut at least this much every year (2010-2011)

• Signed Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (July 22, 2010)

• Ultimately decided to cancel planned new presidential helicopter fleet and stick with Marine One (2010)

• Freezing all discretionary spending for next three years, except on national security (2010-2011)

• Presidential Memoranda to freeze discretionary awards, bonuses, etc. for federal political appointees (2010)

• Measures to promote savings in government contracting (Jan 30, 2011)

• Measures to reduce size of federal budget/signed Budget Control Act (Aug 3, 2011)

 CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

• Ended the Bush-era policy of protecting credit card companies (2009); signed Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (May 22, 2009); credit card companies are prohibited from raising rates without advance notification or arbitrarily if customers are paying bills on time (2010) * Note: In place of the old policy, new consumer protections were instituted and the industry’s predatory practices were banned

• Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud (2009)

• Signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (May 20, 2009)

• Signed Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailing Act (April 7, 2010)

• Signed measures detailing what mailed items can be marked “Census” (May 24, 2010)

• Signed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (July 21, 2010)

• Signed Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (July 27, 2010)

• Signed Social Security Number Protection Act (Dec 18, 2010)

• Signed Truth in Caller ID Act (Dec 22, 2010)

• Protections from online shopping fraud (Dec 29, 2010)

• Signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Enhancements to Consumer Protection Safety Commission (Aug 5, 2011)

 DISASTER RESPONSE

• Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness (2009)

• FEMA once again reports directly to the president (2009) * Note: Bush removed FEMA (prior to the Hurricane Katrina disaster) from this status

• Demonstrated an immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters (2009)

• Ordered that funds be released and red tape be streamlined for the ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery effort in the Gulf Coast (2009)

• Timely and massive relief effort in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and ensuing humanitarian crisis; signed emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act (Jan 27, 2010)

Components of the response:

-           The FBI’s National Center for Disaster Fraud was tasked to look into possible fraud with organizations soliciting funds for relief

-           Announced the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund

-           Established an emergency Haiti Task Force in the State Department

-           Established a website with information, resources, and a posting of a “person finder” online to help families and friends to locate loved ones

-           Joint aid and relief planning with the U.K.

-           Sponsored a resolution in the UN Security Council for additional security and police forces in Haiti

-           Dispatched the US Navy floating hospital (USNS Comfort) and, within 5 days, 9 naval and relief ships, 5 Coast Guard cutters, 8 Coast Guard aircraft, and 12,000 US military personnel

-          Initial dispatch of several ships and cargo planes full of humanitarian aid and supplies, 6 search/rescue teams (500 personnel), and 265 Department of Health & Human Services personnel for emergency medical and aid support

-           Established a mobile US air traffic control center at the destroyed airport in Port-au-Prince

-          Signed Tax Breaks for Haiti Donations Act (Jan 22, 2010)

• Signed Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act (April 15, 2010)

• Signed Haiti Economic Lift Program Act (May 24, 2010)

• Signed Help Haiti Act (Dec 8, 2010)

• After the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a freeze was placed on new deep water projects (2010); established a national commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon spill to examine facts and report a plan of action; new efforts to prevent offshore spills (2010)

• Executive Order to establish new security measures to minimize accidental release of bio and chemical agents; new strategies for public health and bioterrorism response (2010)

• After a slow start in responding to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the White House is promoting a long-term plan to reconstruct the damaged Gulf and negotiated with BP the establishment of a multi-billion dollar trust fund for victims of the spill (2010-2011)

• Signed Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act (June 3, 2010)

• Extended national flood insurance program for those in need during current economic crisis (2010); signed National Flood Insurance Program Extension (July 2, 2010)

 ECONOMY

• Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants…) (2009-2010) * Note: Bush was the first president since Herbert Hoover to not make infrastructure a priority

• Authorized the US auto industry rescue plan and two GMAC rescue packages (2009)

• Authorized the housing rescue plan and new FHA residential housing guarantees (2009)

• Authorized a $789 billion economic stimulus plan (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) (Feb 17, 2009) * Note: 1/3 in tax cuts for working-class families; 1/3 to states for infrastructure projects; 1/3 to states to prevent the layoff of police officers, teachers, etc. at risk of losing their jobs because of state budget shortfalls

• Instituted a new rule allowing the public to meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (in as quickly as one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying (2009)

• Signed the Serve America Act (April 21, 2009)

• Authorized a continuation of the US financial and banking rescue plans initiated at the end of the Bush Administration and authorized TARP funds to buy “toxic assets” from failing financial institutions (2009)

• Authorized the “Cash for Clunkers” program that stimulated auto sales and removed old, inefficient, polluting cars from the road (2009); due to large response to program, signed Cash for Clunkers Extension (Aug 6, 2009)

• Convened a “jobs summit” to bring experts together to develop ideas for creating jobs (2009)

• Placed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires and a few other products such as pipes after China was found to be illegally “dumping” exports below cost (2009) * Note: Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan all refused to “get tough” on China’s predatory trade practices; Bush II refused four times during his presidency

• Ordered the FDIC to beef up deposit insurance (2009)

• Authorized the federal government to make more loans available to small businesses and ordered lower rates for federal loans to small businesses (2009) and signed a temporary extension of the Small Business Act (March 20, 2009)

• Signed Jobs for Main Street Act (Feb 24, 2010)

• Efforts to protect US firms’ trademarks, patents, and copyrights; signed Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act (March 17, 2010)

• Secured authority to compensate certain furloughed federal employees (March 11, 2010)

• Signed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (March 18, 2010)

• Signed Airport and Airway Extension Act (April 30, 2010)

• Enhanced antitrust penalties and reforms (June 9, 2010)

• Signed Small Business Investment Act (June 17, 2010)

• Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (July 2, 2010)

• Extension of Unemployment Compensation (July 22, 2010)

• FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (Aug 10, 2010)

• Signed US Manufacturing Enhancement Act (Aug 11, 2010)

• Signed Small Business Jobs Act (Sept 27, 2010)

• Signed Worker, Homeowner, and Business Assistance Act (Nov 6, 2010); signed

• Extended unemployment benefits for one million workers and expanded coverage for some existing homeowners who are buying again (Nov 2010)

• Called on Congress to deliver a comprehensive “Jobs bill” (2010)

• Signed a bill to extend unemployment benefits set to expire (2010)

• Signed historic Wall Street reform bill (2010) * Note: Designed to reregulate and end abusive practices and promote consumer protections

• Signed the HIRE Act to stimulate the economic recovery (2010) * Note: The bill includes: tax cuts for small businesses who hire someone unemployed for at least two months; small businesses can write off their investments in equipment this year; etc.

• National Export Initiative established to enhance federal support (technical assistance, training, trade missions, etc.) and coordination efforts to help US businesses export products and services (2010)

• Forwarded initiatives to promote a “Wireless Broadband Revolution” (2010) * Note: Among other things, broadband is finally being considered as necessary infrastructure, with efforts to expand use, access, and spectrum…

• Expanded agricultural credit to farmers during current economic crisis (2010)

• Signed US Manufacturing Enhancement Act (2010)

• Signed Single Family Housing Mortgage Insurance (2010)

• Signed Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act (Dec 17, 2010)

• Signed America Competes (Reauthorization) Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Extension of funding for federal support of transportation programs (Sept 16, 2011; March 4, 2011…); extension of funding for airports and airways (several piecemeal increases Aug 5, 2011; June 29, 2011; May 31, 2011 March 21, 2011… because of Republican opposition to full funding of construction, expansion, and improvements)

• Announced a comprehensive jobs proposal: cut payroll taxes for working families; incentives to hire the unemployed; reform unemployment insurance; incentives for businesses to hire “returning heroes,” federal supports to states to prevent loss of thousands of teachers and essential public workers; funding for infrastructure repair and construction and school modernization and construction projects; temporary payroll tax holiday… (September 2011)

 EDUCATION

• Authorized construction funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access in K-12 public schools (2009)

• Increased funding for school construction (2009)

• Increased funding available for student loans (2009)

• Expanded the national youth service program (2009)

• Streamlined the federal student loan process to save $87 billion over the next 10 years (2009)

• Changed the rule to allow students struggling to make college loan payments to refinance their loans (2009)

• Discussions with Congress for education reform (2009-2011) * Note: Much of Obama’s education reform has been sidelined by opposition in Congress

• Initiated a “Race to the Top” competitive federal grant program for states who develop innovative policies (2009)

• Instituted a “judgment review” allowing families with student loans to petition to have their current financial status determine the loan rather than the previous year’s finances (2009)

• Launched “Educate to Innovate,” a public/private partnership making $236 million available for science, mathematics, and technology education programs (2009)

• Proposed capping the maximum amount students must pay on student loans (as percentage of their income) (2010)

• Proposed reducing student loan obligations for individuals going to work in community and public service jobs (2010)

• The federal government changed the system to offer direct student loans, cutting out the cost of private banks (“middle man”) who increase the costs in order to make a profit (2010)

• Increased investment in technologies for schools/education (2010)

 ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

• Removed a ruling that now allows individual states (like California) to enact automotive fuel efficiency standards above federal standards (2009)

• Offered attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles (2009)

• Overturned Bush-era rule that weakened the Endangered Species Act (2009)

• Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions (2009)

• Signed a measure requiring energy producing plants to begin producing 15% of their energy from renewable sources (2009)

• Announced that the federal government would reengage in the long-delayed effort to clean up “Superfund” toxic waste sites (2009)

• Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production (2009) * Note: Much of Obama’s energy reform was killed by Senate Republicans

• Proposed a new refuge for wild mustangs (2009)

• Cancelled several Bush-era mountain-top removal and mining permits (2009)

• Reengaged in international treaties and agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: Bush had withdrawn from such efforts

• Asked Congress for an energy reform and “cap and trade” bill (2009) * Note: The Congress failed to pass such a bill

• Developing plan to lease US coastal waters for wind and water-current energy production (2009-2011)

• Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act that protects millions of acres of scenic, historic, and recreational lands and trails (March 30, 2009)

• Signed Energy and Water Development Act (Oct 28, 2009)

• Overturned Bush-era policies that allowed uranium mining near national parks such as the Grand Canyon (2009)

• Expanded the Petrified Forest National Park (2009)

• Requiring that government buildings and facilities be retrofitted to save energy costs (2009) * Note: These green retrofits are moving very slowly

• Authorized studies in several western states to determine how to support large-scale solar installations (2009)

• Attended the Copenhagen talks and, after the talks were stalled, negotiated an international (voluntary) agreement on reducing carbon emissions and raising funds to assist developing nations in offsetting carbon emissions (2009)

• Banned importation of pythons in response to a growing population of pythons damaging the Florida Everglades (2009)

• Committing the federal government to increasing research and use of renewable, clean energy sources such as wind, biomass, etc. (2009)

• Executive orders establishing a federal initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all federal operations (2009-2011)

• Called for exploring the possibility of additional off-shore oil drilling in the Gulf, Atlantic, and off Alaska (but not in ANWR) (2010)

• Authorized use of funds for Deepwater Horizon oil spill from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (June 15, 2010)

• Signed North American Wetlands Conservation Act (March 25, 2010)

• Agreed to consider increases in nuclear energy production and requested a study on the feasibility of nuclear power plant construction (2010) * Note: Nearly all energy initiatives were defeated by Republican opposition in Congress

• Increased investment in clean energy projects (2010)

• Executive Order to develop a new strategy for and commitment to ocean and lake resources, and for scientific research on water quality (2010)

• Signed Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Dec 14, 2010)

• Signed Truth in Fur Labeling Act (Dec 18, 2010)

• Species protection measures for sharks and other animals (Jan 4, 2011)

• Signed Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Measures to reduce levels of lead in drinking water (Jan 4, 2011)

• Signed Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Executive Order for an interagency effort on domestic energy sources (July 12, 2011)

 ETHICS

• Ordered the White House and all federal agencies to respect the Freedom of Information Act and overturned Bush-era limits on accessibility of federal documents (Jan 2009)

• Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible in the release and availability of government documents (Jan 21, 2009)

• Placed limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House (Jan & Feb 2009)

• Placed limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration (Jan 21, 2009)

• Signed a measure strengthening registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists (2009)

• Ordered that lobbyists must be removed from and are no longer permitted to serve on federal and White House advisory panels and boards (2009) * Note: After saying he would not hire lobbyists, a few have been hired in the Administration

• Companies and individuals who are delinquent on their taxes or owe back taxes are no longer allowed to bid for federal contracts (2009)

• Established a special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (April 24, 2009)

• Enhanced the role and powers of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (June 30, 2009)

• Signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (May 20, 2009)

• Initiated the “e-Rulemaking Initiative” (in cooperation with Cornell University) to allow for online public “notice and comment” of federal laws and initiatives (2010)

• Issued the “Open Gov Directive” ordering all Cabinet departments to promote transparency and citizen participation in their policies (2010)

• Signed extensions on banning lobbyists from serving on agency boards (2010)

• Developed the “Do Not Pay List” with data on contractors and recipients of federal funds who are deemed to be ineligible because of fraud and abuse (2010)

• Signed the Anti-Border Corruption Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Opened additional presidential records to the public (Jan 21, 2011)

 FOREIGN POLICY

• Closed the Bush-era “secret detention” facilities in Eastern Europe (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era policy allowing “enhanced interrogation” (torture); the US is again in compliance with Geneva Convention standards (2009) * Note: Obama has permitted some controversial interrogation techniques to continue

• Restarted international nuclear non-proliferation talks and reestablished international nuclear inspection protocols (2009) * Note: Bush withdrew from non-proliferation talks and dismantled the inspection infrastructure

• Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: These were suspended under Bush

• Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions (2009) * Note: These were suspended under Bush

• Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office (2009)

• Banned the export of cluster bombs (2009)

• Overturned Bush-era plans to increase the US nuclear arsenal (2009)

• Authorized the Navy SEALS operation that freed by force the US shipping captain held by Somali pirates (2009)

• Restored the US commitment to the UN population fund for family planning; overturned the ban on providing funds internationally for family planning (2009) * Note: The family planning efforts were suspended under Bush

• Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return “home” to visit families (2009)

• Extended an offer of engagement (free from sanctions and penalties) to Iran through December 31, 2009 (Iran did not accept the offer) (2009)

• Sent envoys to the Middle East and other parts of the world, reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy (2009)

• Authorized discussions with North Korea and the private mission by former president, Bill Clinton, to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons (2009)

• Authorized discussions with Myanmar and the mission by Senator Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive (2009)

• Renewed lucrative loan guarantees for Israel (2009-2011)

• Signed the USIFTA trade agreement with/for Israel, which offers Israeli products preferred status (2009-2011)

• Authorized a $550m advance for Israel (six months prior to the scheduled date) in order to accommodate Israeli’s economic and financial needs (2009)

• Continued agreements with Israel for cultural exchanges, immigration, commercial cooperation, security/military cooperation, counterterrorism supports, joint military exercises (“Juniper Cobra” in Oct 2009), etc. (2009-2011)

• Spoke on Arab television, spoke at an Egyptian university, and met with Arab leaders in an effort to change the tone of US-Arab relations (2009)

• Ordered the US to finally pay its dues to the United Nations (2009)

• Attended the Summit of America’s meeting in Trinidad and Tobago (2010)

• Provided missile defense supports to Israel (2010); including $205 million for Israel to develop short-range rocket defenses (“Iron Dome”) (2010-2011)

• Dispatched several envoys and initiated talks with numerous nations (2010-2011)

• Signed a nuclear limitation treaty with Russia (2010) * Note: The agreement calls for both countries to reduce their nucs by one-third (1,500) and launch systems by half (800)

• Hosted nuclear non-proliferation summit for several nations (2010)

• Rejected international calls to condemn or use sanctions on Israel after the “Turkey flotilla” incident (2010)

• Executive Order to establish support offices in the State Department to assist the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan (2010)

• Issued memoranda to continue drug interdiction support with Columbia (2010)

• Secured largest “foreign military funding” allocation to Israel in history (2011)

• Proposed a two-state solution in Mideast based on the 1967 borders with clauses for either side to amend the borders (“Mutually agreed upon swaps”) and develop security arrangements, designed to move the process forward before the UN (in Sept 2011) proposes and votes on a Palestinian state (May 2011)

• Executive Order for additional sanctions on Iran (May 23, 2011); ditto with North Korea (April 18, 2011)

• Initiative to promote US exports (June 15, 2011)

• Executive Order imposing certain sanctions/transaction prohibitions on Syria (Aug 18, 2011

 GOVERNANCE

• The White House website now provides information on all economic stimulus projects and spending, along with an unprecedented amount of information on our government (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era practice of circumventing established FDA rules for political reasons (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era practice of having White House staff rewrite the findings of scientific and environmental regulations and reports when they disagreed with the results (2009)

• Limited the salaries of senior White House aides (salaries cut to $100,000) (2009)

• Has been holding open meetings with Republican leaders, although they complain of a lack of access and information (2010)

• Signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (2010) * Note: To curb wasteful spending

• Tasked federal agencies to develop plans for disposing of unneeded real estate and then to eliminate unnecessary or non-economical lands, properties, etc. (2010)

• Signed Fair Sentencing Act (Aug 3, 2010)

• Signed Federal Judiciary Administrative Improvements Act (May 27, 2010)

• Mandated federal agencies to write in “plain English” and documents be written in “plain writing” (Oct 13, 2010)

• Signed Access to Criminal History Records for State Sentencing Commission Act (Jan 4, 2011)

• Initiative to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of federal government (June 13, 2011)

 HEALTHCARE

• Removed Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research (2009)

• Federal support for stem cell and new biomedical research (2009)

• Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children and signed Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act (Feb 4, 2009)

• Established an independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare (2009)

• The First Family initiated several personal projects to promote healthy lifestyles, including planting a garden for the White House’s vegetables and flowers, installing a swing set/playground for the Obama daughters and children of White House employees, and promoting exercise and fitness for children (2009)

• Reversed some of the Bush-era restrictions that prevented Medicare from negotiating with pharmaceutical firms for cheaper drugs, allowing government to again competitively bid (2009) * Note: Obama had promised to lift all restrictions but, while he did negotiate with drug companies for them to lower their costs, the deal only lifted some restrictions

• Expanding government vaccination programs (2009-2011)

• Issued new disease prevention guidelines and priorities for the CDC (2009)

• Authorized the FDA to finally begin regulating tobacco (2009)

• Tasked federal labs to prioritize research on and deployment of H1N1 vaccines (2009)

• Signed Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (June 22, 2009)

• Established a new council on National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health to be chaired by Surgeon General and charged with promoting healthy lifestyles and integrative healthcare (2010)

• Assisted Social Security recipients with claims; signed Social Security Disability Applicants’ Access to Professional Representation Act (Feb 27, 2010)

• Signed Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (Feb 27, 2010)

• When accusations to the contrary arose, an Executive Order was signed to reaffirm that federal funds are not to be used for abortion services (2010)

• Signed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (March 31, 2010)

• Signed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act (Oct 8, 2010)

• Signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (Dec 13, 2010)

• Signed the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act (Dec 22, 2010)

• Extended healthcare and compensation for 9/11 responders (Jan 2, 2011)

• Established National Alzheimer’s Project (Jan 4, 2011)

• Signed a reauthorization of the Combatting Autism Act (Sept 20, 2011)

• Asked multiple congressional committees to bring forward a healthcare reform bill; held dozens of public hearings and town halls on the issue (2009-2010); signed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (March 23, 2010); healthcare reform bill is $940 billion over 10 years (2010) * Note: 32 million additional Americans will receive healthcare coverage and costs will be lowered for most Americans, but many of the goals are phased in over four years

Components of the bill:

-          Prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals/family members with pre-existing health conditions; a temporary plan is being developed to cover high-risk individuals with pre-existing conditions until the full reforms go into effect in 2014

-          Prevents insurance companies from placing lifetime limits on benefits

-          Bans “rescission” so insurance companies can’t cancel coverage if individuals keep their policies current or if they become ill

-          An individual’s out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are capped

-          Closes the “donut hole” (Part D) for Medicare prescription drug coverage (under Bush, Medicare helped pay for drugs up to $2,600 and above $4,550, but individuals had to pay 100% of the costs in between these amounts); now Medicare helps cover costs irrespective of the amount – seniors will now pay only 25% of drug costs up to $4,550 and only 5% of drug costs above that amount

-          In 2010, an emergency provision will offer seniors a $250 rebate on the costs incurred within the “donut hole”

-          Individuals living at or below the poverty line were eligible for healthcare under Medicaid, but by 2014 individuals/families living slightly above (making up to $14,404/$29,327) the poverty line will also be eligible for benefits

-          Individuals/families making less than $43,320/$88,200 per year will qualify for government subsidies to help purchase health insurance

-          All individuals must have health insurance or face a government fine; all large (over 50 employees) employers must offer health insurance to employees or pay a fine

-          Small businesses can get a tax credit if they offer health care

-          There are hardship exemptions if individuals can’t afford health insurance

-          Families can keep their children in college on their plans through age 26

-          Promotes health insurance “exchanges” so consumers can buy “wholesale”

-          Creates consumer assistance offices to help consumers file complaints or appeal decisions from insurance companies; beginning in 2011, insurance companies can no longer make excessive rate hikes without justification and approval, and those doing so may be barred from participating in new health insurance exchanges

Funding sources:

-          Large employers (over 50 workers) that don’t offer health benefits will be charged a $2,000/worker fee; if the employer offers coverage but employees instead purchase federally subsidized insurance the fee is $3,000/worker receiving federal subsidies or $750/worker (whichever is lower)

-          Annual fees on pharmaceutical companies ($27 billion), health insurance companies ($60 billion), and medical device-makers ($20 billion)

-          Annual penalties on individuals who do not have health insurance (up to a maximum of $695/person)

-          Increase in the Medicare payroll tax from 1.45% to 2.35% for individuals making $200,000+ and families making $250,000+

-          3.8% tax on unearned income for millionaires

-          Insurance companies will be subject to a tax on each high-end insurance plan (so-called “Cadillac” plans) they offer

Miscellaneous:

-          Illegal immigrants are not eligible for insurance or subsidies

-          By Executive Order, such federal funding can’t be used for abortion

-          The federal government will assist states by covering all of the increased expenses of expanding Medicaid coverage (90% of costs after 2020)

 IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN

• Began the phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (2009); fulfilled campaign promise to have combat troops (90,000) out of Iraq by August 31, 2010; over 100,000 combat troops withdrawn by late 2010; continuing the withdrawal (2011)

• Authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, which had been pending for months during the Bush Administration (2009); begin withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (August 2011)

• Changed the US military command in the Afghan conflict (2009)

• Tasked the Pentagon to reorganize US policy in Afghanistan; the new policy included 30,000 additional troops deployed, priority training of Afghan forces, developing agriculture and infrastructure, limiting aerial bombing, etc. (2009-2010)

• Ordered the Pentagon to send additional helicopters to assist US Marine units and Special Forces in Afghanistan (2009)

• Increased unmanned drone strikes on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan (2009-2011)

• Ended the Bush-era “stop-loss” policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date (2009)

• Visited US soldiers in Afghanistan (2010)

 MILITARY & VETERANS

• Ordered the Pentagon to cover expenses of families of fallen soldiers if they wish to be on site when the body arrives back in the US (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era “blackout” imposed on media coverage of the return of fallen US soldiers (2009) * Note: The media is now permitted to cover the story pending adherence to respectful rules and with the approval of the fallen soldier’s family

• Ended the Bush-era “black out” policy on media coverage of war casualties (2009) * Note: Full information is now released for the first time in the War on Terror

• Ordered better body armor to be procured for US troops (2009)

• Signed Korean War Veterans Recognition Act (July 27, 2009)

• Signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act (Oct 22, 2009)

• Funding new Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (2009) * Note: The old Hummers were very vulnerable to roadside explosives and an alarming percentage of our soldiers lost in Iraq were on account of IEDs

• Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel (2009-2010)

• Improving housing for military personnel (2009-2010)

• Signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act (Oct 22, 2009)

• Signed Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (Nov 11, 2009)

• Expanded veterans’ reimbursement for non-VA emergency care (2009 & 2010)

• Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses (2009-2010)

• Ordered that conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other neglected military hospitals be improved (2009)

• Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military to a post-Cold War, modern fighting force (2009-2011) * Note: Bush announced in 2001 his intention to do this but backed off the reforms after 9/11, which include: new procurement policies; increasing the size of Special Ops units; deploying new technologies; creating new cyber security units; etc.

• Ended the Bush-era practice of awarding “no-bid” defense contracts (2009)

• Improving VA staffing, information systems, etc. (2009)

• Authorized construction of additional health centers to care for veterans (2009-2011)

• Suspended the Bush-era decision to purchase a fleet of Marine One helicopters from foreign suppliers in favor of American-made helicopters (2009)

• Ordered a review of the existing “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military (2010)

• Supports for blinded veterans (April 7, 2010); improvements in services for blind veterans; established Major Charles R. Soltes Blind Rehabilitation Center within the Department of Veterans Affairs (May 7, 2010)

• Increased cost-of-living adjustment and compensation for veterans (Sept 30, 2010)

• New GI Bill for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan (2009-2011)

• Signed bill providing assistance for caregivers of veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010); signed Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (April 23, 2010) * Note: The omnibus bill does the following: Training, funding, and counseling for caregivers; promoting pilot childcare programs for women vets under treatment at the VA; independent oversight to prevent abuse; readjustment counseling for National Guard and reservist units; etc.

• Eliminated co-payments for veterans who are catastrophically disabled (2010)

• Established enforcements for minimum essential care for veterans (May 27, 2010)

• Established a new interagency task force to assist veterans owning small businesses (2010) * Note: The efforts include promoting federal contract opportunities, improve access to loans and capital, mentor assistance programs, etc.

• Signed The Families of Fallen Heroes Act, which covers the moving costs of immediate family members of those lost in service (military, intelligence, and security personnel) (2010)

• Signed the For Vets Act (Dec 22, 2010)

• Measure to help prevent military families and vets from losing their homes (Dec 29, 2010)

• Proposal to offer tax breaks for businesses that hire unemployed Iraq/Afghanistan veterans; job training support for Iraq/Afghan vets (2011)

• Signed Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act (Aug 3, 2011)

 NATIONAL SECURITY

• Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane (which wasn’t even used in Iraq/Afghanistan) and other outdated weapons systems (2009)

• Announced his intention to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (2009) * Note: The closure has been delayed due to opposition but it remains on the agenda.

• Stated his interest in housing terrorists at a new federal “super max” facility in the US (2009) * Note: this has been delayed due to opposition but it remains on the agenda

• Cut the expensive Reagan-era missile defense program, saving $1.4 billion in 2010 (2009)

• Cancelled plans to station anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic (2009)

• Signed Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act (May 22, 2009)

• Replacing long-range, expensive missile systems with more efficient smaller systems (2009-2010)

• Increased US Navy patrols off the Somali coast in response to pirating (2009-2010)

• Established a new cyber security office and appointed a cyber security czar (2009)

• Ordered the first nation-wide comprehensive cyber threat assessment (2009)

• Signed a one-year extension on some provisions of the controversial PATRIOT Act (2009;and again on Feb 27, 2010 and May 26, 2011)

• Authorized the use of more unmanned warplanes/drones (Predator, Reaper, etc.) in the War on Terror (2009); eliminated more terrorist targets in same time period than the Bush Administration

• Instituted a new Nuclear Posture Review, revising US nuclear deterrence policy to encourage more nations to join the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (2010)  * Note: Components of the policy include: a pledge to stop nuclear testing; a pledge to not build a new generation of nucs; identifying nuclear terrorism, rather than a launch from another nuclear state, as the major threat; a pledge to not use nucs on a non-nuclear state in a conventional conflict; etc.

• Signed Executive Orders to block payment, transfers, exports, etc… of individuals and organizations supporting the regimes of North Korea, Iran, Somali pirates, and other foreign threats (2010)

• Signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (July 1, 2010); signed related measures for sanctions and divestment Act to deal with other foreign regimes like North Korea (2010)

• Additional funds and supports for southwest border security (Aug 13, 2010)

• Signed First Responder Anti-Terrorism Training Resources Act (Sept 30, 2010)

• Presidential Memoranda to extend certain provisions of The Trading with Enemies Act which was to expire in September 2010 (2010) * Note: This includes freezing assets and banning trade that benefits the Cuban regime; however further efforts at normalizing travel to Cuba are supported

• Signed bill for southwest border security and increased funds and agents on the Mexican border (2010)

• Ordered another review of efforts to close Guantanamo Detention Facility (Jan 22, 2011); review of unlawful interrogations (Jan 22, 2011); review of Guantanamo detainees (March 7, 2011)

• Authorized bombing of military targets in Libya in support of rebels; support NATO mission against Qaddafy regime (winter 2011)

• Many terrorists and senior leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been killed on Obama’s orders and on his watch (Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, Abus Hafs al-Shahri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Ammar al-Wa’ili, Abu Ali al-Harithi, Ali Saleh Farhan, Harun Fazul, Baitullah Mahsud, Noordin Muhammad Top, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Saleh al-Somali, Muhammad Haqqani, Qari Zafar, Hussein al-Yemeni Dulatin, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Sheik Saeed al-Masri, Hamza al-Jawfi, etc.; many others were captured including Abdul Ghani Berader, Younis al-Mauritani, etc.)

 RIGHTS

• Instituted enforcements for equal pay for women (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) (Jan 20, 2009)

• Appointed Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina, to the Supreme Court (2009)

• Held the first Seder in White House (2009)

• Appointed a diverse Cabinet and diverse White House staff (2009) (4 women, 2 Latinos, 4 African Americans, 3 Asians in Cabinet) *Note: Obama offered 3 Republicans Cabinet posts, but only 2 accepted

• Signed Civil Rights History Project Act (May 12, 2009)

• Established protections and incentives for adopting children with special needs (May 15, 2009)

• Spoke at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization (2009)

• Signed the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation that includes acts of violence against gays under the list of federal hate crimes (2009)

• Reversed the Bush-era practice of politicizing Justice Department investigations and prosecutions against political opponents (2009)

• Pushed for some of the 9/11 perpetrators to be tried in federal court (2009-2010) * Note: The process moved at a snail’s pace and, in the face of opposition, Obama has remained quiet

• Signed an extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act to provide federal research and support for treating the disease (Oct. 30, 2009)

• Allowed the State Department of offer same-sex benefits for employees (2009)

• After eight years of neglect, the Justice Department and EEOC are again enforcing employment discrimination laws (2009)

• Convened the White House Tribal Nations Conference, inviting representatives from 564 federally-recognized Indian tribes (2009)

• Provided increased school projects for Indian lands and increased funds for the Indian Health Service (2009)

• Signed an Executive Order mandating that his Cabinet develop plans to work with and consult Indian tribes on issues impacting Indian lands (2009)

• Signed Human Rights Enforcement Act (Dec 22, 2009)

• Proposed that the Pentagon repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; placed a “freeze” on current efforts to remove alleged homosexuals from the military (2009); commissioned a study to develop alternatives to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2010); signed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act (Dec 22, 2010)

• Called for federal agencies to look into recognizing gay partnerships in terms of benefits (2010)

• Signed an Executive Order for the President’s Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010)

• Increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010)

• Signed Executive Order to promote the federal government as a “model employer” when it comes to hiring the disabled (2010) * Note: This includes new efforts to increase the recruitment, hiring, and training for the disabled

• Programs to assist Spanish speakers with the US Census (2010)

• Elena Kagen appointed to Supreme Court (2010)

• Tasked all federal agencies to develop new strategies to address HIV/AIDS (2010)

• Signed International Adoption Simplification Act (Nov 20, 2010)

• Signed Fair Sentencing Act (2010) * Note: The Administration continues to deescalate marijuana interdiction and raids; increased dramatically the amount of cocaine one must possess to be sentenced to jail; eliminated mandatory sentencing for first-time drug abusers and simple possession

• Signed Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act (Dec 22, 2010)

• Additional supports for housing for the elderly (Jan 4, 2011)

• Executive Order for notification of employee rights under labor laws (Jan 30, 2011)

 TAXES

• Negotiated a deal with Swiss banks to permit the US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals (2009)

• Ended the Bush-era policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs (2009) * Note: The new policy promotes in-sourcing investments to bring jobs back to the US

• Signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which provides small tax cuts for 95% of “working families” (2009) * Note: The tax cuts were not as big as was suggested during the 2008 campaign

• Convened an advisory board that is looking into simplifying the tax code (2009)

• Ordered the closing of offshore tax safe havens (for individual and business tax evaders) (2009)

• Reduced taxes for some small businesses to stimulate the economic recovery (2009)

• Extended the Home Buyers Credit for first-time home buyers (2009)

• Proposed doubling the child tax credit (2010)

• Called for the repeal of the capital gains tax for small businesses (2010)

• Proposed rolling back the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (2010) * Note: This would be for families earning over $250,000/year and would return their tax rates to the 1990’s level; however, the President backed off proposal in late 201 because of Republican opposition

• Proposed “Buffet Rule” which requires millionaires to pay a fair/minimum tax (Sept 2011) *Note: Many take advantage of tax laws to pay less than or lower percentages than middle class Americans

 OTHER INITIATIVES

• New federal funding for science and research labs (2009)

• Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program (2009)

• Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program (2009)

• Signed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (April 21, 2009)

• Ordered the DEA to stop raids on medical marijuana usage (2009)

• Ordered a review of existing “mandatory minimum” prison sentencing (2009)

• Signed an order to limit airport tarmac delays and the time passengers had to sit in the plane/on the tarmac during delays (2009)

• Restored the EPA to “Cabinet level” status (2009) * Note: Bush removed the EPA from this status

• Beginning discussions with Congress for comprehensive immigration reform (2010-2011) * Note: Much of Obama’s immigration reform had been stalled by opposition in Congress

• Commissioned expert panels and reports from NASA; announced a new direction for human space flight that involves funding a new heavy lift-launcher and jettisoning the Ares 1 program; boosting NASA’s budget by $1 billion in 2011 (2010)

• Signed a bill so that members of Congress would NOT receive a cost of living adjustment in FY 2011 (May 14, 2010)

• Signed Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act (May 17, 2010)

• Ordered a ban on text-messaging for all commercial truck and bus drivers (2010)

• Signed Special Agent Samuel Hicks Families of Fallen Heroes Act (June 8, 2010)

• Signed FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (2010)

• Executive Order to seize transactions/property of criminal organizations (July 25, 2011)

• Signed Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Sept 20, 2011)

  

FACTOIDS & MISCONCEPTIONS

Online/talk radio claim:  The Obamas demanded and spent more money than any first family to move into the White House.

Fact:  The Obamas paid for the renovations of the private living quarters in the White House with their own money rather than using the funds provided to all new first families.

Online/talk radio claim:  The Obamas are Muslims (some emails claim atheists) who did not allow Christmas to be celebrated in the White House.

Fact:  The Obamas are Christian and celebrated Christmas in a very traditional way during each holiday season at the White House.  They also recognized celebrations and customs from other religions.  What was different about the Christmas celebration was that the Obamas reused many Christmas ornaments from previous White House trees rather than buy new ones and used LED energy-saving lights.

Online/talk radio claim:  Obama received extra money as part of his Nobel Peace award and he pocketed it all.

Fact:  Obama received the same award as other Nobel laureates, but donated the award money for the prize to several charities.

Online/talk radio claim:  Obama has been secretive and unwilling to allow public or media access.

Fact:   In only his first year in office, Obama held 23 town hall meetings, gave 158 interviews, and held 42 press/news conferences, as well as 411 speeches, comments, and remarks * Note: Official numbers are not available on such things, but this seems to be a new record high in the White House

Online/talk radio claim:  Obama vacations more than any president.

Fact:  In his first year in office, Obama took only 26 days of vacation (2009) * Note: Official numbers are not readily available on such things, but this seems to be a new record low and far lower than Bush

Online/talk radio claim:  Obama was not born in America and is some sort of international “Manchurian” plant who supports other countries over America.

Fact:   Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961.  He has been an internationalist president insofar as he took 10 foreign trips to 21 nations and met with 74 foreign leaders in only his first year in office (he also took 46 out-of-town trips to 58 cities and 30 states in 2009).

Online/talk radio claim:  Obama has not kept any of his campaign promises.

Fact:  Official numbers are not kept on such things historically, but it appears Obama made more promises and discussed more policy issues during his campaign than any other presidential candidate. But, it also appears he has kept more promises than perhaps any other president. (As of 10/4/11) Obama has kept 147 of his campaign promises and another 197 of them are currently in progress; but he has broken 49 of them and compromised with Republicans on 44 of them; another 69 of his campaign promises have been stalled by Republicans. (Source: PolitiFact)

… and in case you were wondering

Obama promoted the celebration of the Reagan Centennial and established the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission (June 2, 2009)

I Am Not Moving! The hypocrisy embedded in our system!

Good without God

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

The Christian Taliban Rises in Alabama

Alabama is not noted for being one of our most progressive states.  So the rise of the Christian Taliban in Alabamy is not all that surprising.  Furthermore, Alabama, like so many places in the deep south is infected with a type of fundamentalist Christianity virtually indistinguishable from the more severe forms of Muslim dementia.  It is notable for its ignorance and stupidity!

In the city of Bay Minette, Alabama, the powers that be have decided that their "non-violent offenders" would be better served by attending worship services in a Christianist church than by serving time in jail.  Delusion rules.

According to the Huffington Post, "Starting next week, the program will allow a city judge to sentence misdemeanor offenders to work off their sentences in jail and pay a fine, or go to church every Sunday for a year."

Those people with even a rudimentary understanding of our Constitution will wonder how such a thing could happen.  The U.S. Constitution is quite clear about government-sponsored religious activities and such things are forbidden!  This program of the metropolis of Bay Minette is blatantly unconstitutional! 


One of the things that has become clear in recent years is that fundamentalist Christians, wherever they have authority or power, attempt to change or willfully ignore the laws of the land to suit their religious beliefs.  We have learned, to our dismay they pay only lip-service to the Constitution and that their religion trumps that document every time!

Thus, today there is, across our land, a concerted effort, well-funded by billionaires on the right, to destroy our public schools, to take away a woman's right to choose, to declare a fetus a "person," to outlaw contraceptive devices, to introduce phony American history in our schools, to keep our youth from studying evolution, to turn our military into an arm of the Christian Taliban, and all of this to reinforce their misguided notion that the U.S. was and is a "Christian" country.

In Bay Minette, we have small-town politicos who wish to turn the Establishment clause on its head and actually force people to attend a Christian church in order to avoid jail time and payment of a fine for a relatively minor infraction of the law!  As the Alabama ACLU Executive Director said, "When the alternative is going to church or going to jail, the so-called 'choice' available to offenders is no choice at all."


One final note:  Many, if not most, people in the United States today believe that Christians live more moral lives than non-Christians.  This belief was expressed by Robert Gates, pastor of Christian Life Church in Bay Minette, Alabama, when he said, "You show me somebody who falls in love with Jesus, and I'll show you a person who won't be a problem to society but that will be an influence and a help to those around him."

Not so.  In fact, studies have shown just the opposite.  Self-described Christians are actually a bigger problem in society than non-Christians.  As Richard Carrier points out in the book, The End of Christianity:

"The malignancy of the Nazi movement ... was undeniably a product of Christianity.  [Hitler's "Final Solution" was almost identical to Martin Luther's suggestions on what to do about the Jews several centuries earlier!]  But the Christian support of the American slave system for over two hundred years is America's own nightmarish example ...

"... naive Christianity is a perfect vehicle for manipulating masses of people toward any wicked end for which a Christian purpose can be conceived.  The Holocaust, the Inquisition, antebellum slavery, and the genocide of American Indians are the most  notorious examples.  But war (of any sort) is the most common example, as well as (presently) the use of Christianity to turn the American people against helping the poor and instead toward promoting the libertine policies of the rich (a more blatant perversion of the teachings of Christ can hardly be imagines, yet behold its success)."

Today, studies in the U.S. have shown that there is no discernible difference in terms of moral behavior between Christians and non-Christians.  In fact, in some cases, such as divorce, non-Christians have a better record.


What's happening in Alabama is part and parcel of a 2,000 year old movement to force people into some kind of Christian mold in the mistaken belief that will make them "good" or "moral," when in fact it has no moral impact whatsoever, because the Christian enterprise is morally corrupt at its core!

More importantly, however, what's happening in Alabama is a direct assault of one of our most cherished Constitutional principles.  As such, and for that reason alone, it must be stopped and those city officials who instituted such a violation should be penalized appropriately.   

It takes all sorts

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Perry's video of "The Response" prayer event has disappeared!

Bruce Wilson, writing at Talk To Action, notes that just "Last week the official web site for Texas governor Rick Perry's August 6, 2011 The Response prayer event, credited by a number of observers as having been the de-facto launch of Perry's presidential campaign, was wiped from the Internet.

"The disappearance of the website's video archive of the event, and the lists of endorsers and leaders of the event, is startling and raises the obvious question; what about The Response might candidate Perry, who stands a chance of becoming the next president of the United States, want to hide?"


Well, there are probably a number of things in Perry's political life he would like to disappear from public view.  I'm sure he rues the day he wrote that book in which he denounced Social Security as "unconstitutional."  But, this could be more serious.

As Wilson points out, Perry would doubtless wish to stifle his link to C. Peter Wagner's "apostles."  Wilson says, "As I've now extensively documented, Wagner and top apostles in his movement advocate burning books and scripture (including books of Mormon) and destroying religious relics associated with Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam."

Wilson has identified a minimum of 17 of Wagner's current or previous apostles that were associated with The Response.


Wilson goes on to discuss Wagner's Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders - what they are all about and what they mean to Perry and the country.  For one thing, they are a rowdy bunch of theocrats who are actively working to take over the government of the United States and install their particular and peculiar brand of Old Testament Christianity!

In the minds of these people, "secular" has no rights or role in the United States.  They believe, as per the pseudo-historian, David Barton, that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that God intends it become such again.  They do not believe in religious freedom.  They are as homophobic as possible.  They would institute laws against abortion.  Public schools are anathema so far as they are "secular" and disallow Christian prayers and teachings.

They are very dangerous.

Perry walks hand-in-hand with them.

But, evidently Perry does not want the people of the United States to know that.  So, he took down a video of The Response because many "apostles" were closely tied to the event and to him and clearly visible with public roles.

Wilson, who has spent years studying this religious phenomenon, goes into detail with regard to the various apostles and their beliefs and ministries.  Please read all of Wilson's article here.

God Hates Rick Perry!

There seems to be no other conclusion:  God hates Rick Perry!

Consider that as the State of Texas succumbed to a horrendous drought, Rick Perry belatedly called upon the people of the Lone Star State to fall on their knees before the Christian god and pray, pray, pray - for rain.

There has been no rain!  Perry's prayers failed! 


But how could the Christian god hate Perry?  Perry claims to be on speaking terms with the Christian god and know the will of the Christian god.  In fact, Perry says the Christian god is pissed at the United States. According to Perry, the "ills" which plague our nation are caused by our perversity and shameful behavior as a people.  God, says Perry, is pissed because we have ignored his will.

[Don't you wonder though why god isn't just as pissed at other countries?  Maybe he only cares about the U.S.]

For example, Perry thinks his god hates Socialism and he believes Mr. Obama is a socialist, ergo god hates Obama as he must be one of the problems, or "ills".  [Of course, Perry being a dumb-ass dirt farmer does not understand the meaning of "socialism.]

Perry also believes that his god does not want Democrats in positions of power.  He believes that his god desires school children to pray to him in Jesus' name.  Perry insists his god is angry because liberals have stifled the hanging of Ten Commandment plaques on walls of public buildings.  Perry does not believe in the separation of church and state because he's been convinced by pseudo-historians that the United States was born a Christian country.  Many of his most important backers are working toward replacing our current form of government with a form of Christian fundamentalist theocracy.

Perry's god also dislikes gays.  They are an "abomination," according to one of the biblical passages quoted by Perry and his cohorts.  Thus Perry is convinced his god is pissed because some of our states allow gays to marry.  Even worse is the issue of abortion.  It is legal for women on have an abortion in this country.  God, according to Perry, becomes irate when he thinks about such a thing.

 Furthermore, there are teachers in our schools who insist on teaching the theory of evolution and that, as every good Christian knows, is to deny the truth of god's holy word, the Bible.  Many science classes are forbidden to teach Creationism, which, as Perry has explained, is the story of how god created the universe.   

God has also counseled Perry that taxes are bad, bad, bad.  [That, in spite of the fact that Jesus (who was god himself) told his followers to give the government its due.  It appears Perry missed that section of the New Testament.]  So, according to Governor Good Hair no Christian can be in favor of raising taxes on the rich (folks like Perry).  The rich create jobs, donchaknow?

Perry also knows that God is more concerned with fetuses than with real live people!  God told Perry that the poor are poor 'cause they want to be.  And if they need a place to live, clothing, education and health care, well, that's their problem, and not a concern of the government.  The government exists to serve the really good guys - guys with money like those who fill Perry's campaign coffers to keep him in office so he can let the rich do whatever the hell they want to do even if the people of Texas suffer.

And god doesn't worry about wars and killing - especially if those getting killed are Muslims and other nogoodniks.  Nor does god worry about the fact that it is more than likely some of the 246 (or thereabouts) people that Perry has executed as guv of the State of Texas were innocent. 


Now Perry is so sure of all this that he, along with a bunch of far-out Christian freakniks who want to take over the government and institute their version of Christian law, put together a huge prayer rally in the smog-bound city of Houston.  Only about 30,000 folks showed up but they spent the day waving their hands, lifting their eyes to the heavens (which is where the Christian god lives), weeping and sobbing for their country and imploring their god to change things - to drive out the heathen and let them - good Christians all - take over the country, led, of course, by Rick Perry.  Oh, they also prayed for rain!


Obviously, Perry is deluded, delusional, and perhaps just plain insane.  He's also mean.  And god hates him!  How do we know this?  Look at what has happened to the State of Texas!  The whole damn place is on fire.  It hasn't rained at all.  It's just gotten hotter and drier and windier all of which has fanned the flames until the entire state looks like a vision of hell!

Perry, like most Repugnicans these days, believes government is to enrich the rich.  Government is not to help the regular people.  So Perry has been chopping away at the state budget, unwilling to raise taxes on the wealthy or the corporations whose contributions keep him in office.  Teachers have felt the blows, as have health care workers, and those who tend to the public welfare - like firefighters!

At least 1,000 homes have already been destroyed by fire in Perry's domain.

Firefighting is not a priority with Perry.

In Perry's vision of Texas, firefighting and firefighters just don't count for much.  The majority of firefighters in the State of Texas are volunteers.  Here's how it breaks down:

Volunteer fire departments - 817
Paid fire departments - 114
Combination of paid and volunteer fire departments - 187

Because the guv doesn't think these guys count for much, they have been straining to find the resources to do their job.  Then, this year, the volunteer fire departments found that their funding had been decimated - from $30 million to $7 million.

Perry, the master hypocrite, almost took some time off campaigning for the GOP nomination for president to take do something about the Texas fires.  But then he showed up at that CNN/Teapot debate in California anyway.

Meanwhile, god, really pissed now at Perry's inability to get things straight and at his pretense of knowing the mind of god, spoke to me last night and said he wanted to clarify a few things:

1)  I never, ever told Perry to run for president.  He's been a disaster in Texas and he'd be a disaster in D.C.

2)  The fires in Texas are the result of the natural order of things.  When people screw up the environment so badly as to cause climate change - global warming - this is what one must expect.  But don't blame me.  Blame Perry and all the rest of the truth-deniers.

You can, however, blame Perry for this:  the fires might very well have been fought more successfully if Perry had stopped his damned prayer and not cut the budgets of those responsible for firefighting in Texas. 

Oh, one last thing:  I don't hate Rick Perry.  How can you hate anyone so damn dumb?

Stranger than fiction ... USAF "mighty warrior" Jesus program

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Stars, Stripes and Crosses

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Are you a "conservative"?

[Disclaimer:  I received this from a friend.  Because it pushes all my buttons (I agree with the premise that conservatives are by and large, dangerous hypocrites) I am publishing it here although I have no idea who wrote it.]

 

You might be a conservative if...............

1: You’re irate over the president taking so many vacation days on the taxpayer’s dime (61 thus far), but you thought George W. Bush earned every minute of his leisure time (196 days at the same point in his presidency).

2: You’re happy with your 40 hour work week, paid vacations and company-provided healthcare, but you’re strongly anti-union, because those commies haven’t done anything for you lately.

3: You strongly support the First Amendment and it’s guarantee of
religious freedom to all, but you don’t think Muslims have a right to
build an Islamic Community Center in Manhattan.

4: You believe Ronald Reagan was a devout Christian, even though he hated going to church, but any president who spends twenty years going to the same Trinity United Church in Chicago must be a Muslim.

5: You believe when a Republican governor creates a healthcare package with an individual mandate for everyone in his state, that’s a good idea. But when a Democratic president does it, suddenly it’s
unconstitutional.

6: You’re so enthused about demonstrating your Second Amendment rights, you can think of no finer place to brandish your pistol in public than at a presidential rally.

7: You believe Bill Clinton was responsible for Osama bin Laden’s escape ten years ago, but thankfully George W. Bush caught up with him and killed him in Pakistan.

8: You believe in putting American jobs first, except when president Obama rescued 1.5 million GM and Chrysler autoworkers, because that was socialism.

9: It angers you that you can’t communicate with the Mexican busboy at your local Olive Garden, but when you took a vacation to San Francisco’s Chinatown, you thought it’s quaint that so many Chinese-Americans are holding fast to their traditional language.  Because that’s America!

10: You deny that the lunatic who tried to murder Gaby Giffords was a conservative, even though he targeted a Jewish, pro-choice, pro gay rights, Democratic Congresswoman.

11: You thought it was perfectly normal that every president in history had an untethered right to raise the debt ceiling when warranted, but when Obama asked the GOP held congress to do it, you thought it only natural that it be tied to cutting Social Security and Medicare.

12: When the new 112th Congress was sworn in, you swooned as they promised to focus on “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” But when they pivoted, and went after NPR, Planned Parenthood and gay rights, you cheered.

13: You accuse president Obama of raising your taxes to the highest point ever, even though they’re lower today than at any time since 1950.

14: You believe the wealthiest Americans are “job creators,” and they are — but it doesn’t bother you that all the workers in those positions are in India, China and Malaysia, and they’re doing the jobs that our fathers once did.

15: You believe gays are anti-American, because their lifestyle is a threat to the children… unless they’re married to Tea Party-backed presidential candidates from Minnesota.

16: You strongly defend individual freedom, but that freedom doesn’t include a woman’s right to decide her own healthcare needs.

17: You believe corporations are people too, and are deserving of the same rights as the rest of us. Just not the same obligations to pay personal income tax free of corporate loopholes, or penalties for massive criminal behavior and tax evasion. In these matters, corporations are deserving of special rights.

18: And since corporations are now people too, you must believe in their right to a driver’s license, the right to marry, to adopt children, etc. These rights shall not be denied to Exxon, Halliburton and BP (but still immune from the right of the People to try, convict and sentence to death any corporation that conspires to commit a felony… because at that point, they’re suddenly not people again.)

19: You still believe Climate Change is a myth, and the recent record highs, lows, floods and droughts around the world coinciding with climate scientist’s predictions are all an amazing coincidence. Oh, and Al Gore is FAT!

20: You believe when George W. Bush took the national debt from $5 trillion to $11 trillion, it was necessary for him to do so to keep America safe. But when Barack Obama added to it by trying to rescue the country from a second Great Depression, he was deliberately trying to destroy America!

21: You believe America is a God fearing country, and that the Almighty protects those who believe just as you do. But it’s never crossed your mind that the majority of tornadoes, hurricanes and floods all occur in the Bible Belt.

22: You believe that no matter who’s in the White House, the office, if not the man himself is deserving of your respect. The only exceptions to this rule, are if his middle name sounds Muslim, and if he’s not at least as white as that black guy who works down in the mail room at the office.

The madman

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Cliff Stearns, Rep (R.Fl.), and the most important issues

[Photo from newsbelly]

Cliff Stearns, who hails from central Florida, and has, unfortunately, been elected too many damn times to the U.S. Congress by the teapot crackpots who dominate politics in this area, is a typical Repugnican water-carrier for the powerful and the wealthy.

Stearns, representing the rich and the religious right of Florida's 6th Congressional District is very concerned about certain issues which almost invariably work against the poor and the middle-class, and which often constitute an attack on our Constitution.


1)  Just recently, Stearns was delighted to learn that a federal judge had ruled that White House visitor logs should be made public.  Stearns wants to know who visits President Obama and officials in the White House, how long they stay, and, if he had his way, what they talked about.  The Secret Service had opposed this notion claiming that it would possibly compromise national security.

In reality, Stearns' involvement in this issue was just another way to harass President Obama by intimidating that he and his staff may be hiding some anti-American friends in the sacred halls of the West Wing.

2)  Not so long ago, Stearns was able to get an attachment to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 which forced the FBI to screen thousands of emergency responders to the events of 9/11.  Stearns is terribly concerned that some of these first responders might have terrorist ties.  And he just doesn't want such terrorist tied people to receive federal funds.

Thus far, the FBI has screened over 60,000 first responders and hasn't found a terrorist among them.


But there's some other things people need to know about Mr. Stearns.  Right this very minute he's hard at work restoring our economy.  And how is he going to do this?  With tax cuts for the rich!  Of course.  Everyone knows that when the rich get tax cuts they run out and start new businesses and hire lots of unemployed people and everyone is happy again!

It's the typical Repugnican bullshit, but it works too often 'cause so many dumb asses and low wage-earners really believe that they, too, will someday find the pot of gold at the end of the American rainbow. 

Stearns voted to kill health care for all Americans.  He's very concerned that no taxpayer money be used to fund abortions.  If he had his way he would outlaw all abortions.  (He's all for freedom, of course, unless that freedom is used to do something against his religion!).  He likes guns and thinks there should be reciprocity for concealed weapons carriers across all state lines.  He also believes and supports the idea of a Fair Tax, which would shift the rest of the tax burden from the already wealthy to the already poor!

Stearns voted Nay to increase the debt limit and keep our nation from defaulting.  He voted Aye on the Cut, Cap and Balance Act, which was simply another Repugnican gimmick to cut out the social safety net in our country.  As already noted, he voted Aye to repeal the Health Care Law.  He voted Aye to continue tax breaks for the rich.  He voted Nay on repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (this also because he thinks sexual freedom should be limited by his religious beliefs!)

Religious freedom is important to Stearns.  But what he means by that is that his religion - a very conservative version of Christianity - should be the law of the land.  Thus he sponsored one bill which would amend the Constitution to restore "religious freedom."  That, of course, has nothing to do with freedom but rather with giving the government the right to impose Christian beliefs on the rest of us!

One gets a better understanding of Mr. Stearns' beliefs by noting that he introduced a resolution in the House to "honor" the life of Dr. James Kennedy.  Dr. James Kennedy was an ultra-right wingnut from Coral Springs, Florida.  Kennedy pastored a large church there for years which had a huge television audience.  Kennedy was a Dominionist, which means he intended to "restore" Christianity as the religion under which all Americans lived and that the Christian Bible would replace our Constitution as the law of the land.


When one reads about Stearns and his career in Congress, and when one realizes that there are many other representatives in Congress who are just as goofy or more goofy than he is, it becomes clear why our nation is bogged down and going nowhere.

We need jobs.  We need revenue.  We need to shrink the military and the Pentagon's budget and bring our imperialistic forces home from the Middle East and most everywhere else in the world.  We need to begin restoring our infrastructure which is rapidly and dangerously deteriorating.  We need to tackle global warming which is creating huge climate changes/disturbances right now.  We need to work on new ways to create clean energy and get rid of our reliance on fossil fuels.  We could decrease our deficit considerably by cutting out subsidies to the oil companies!  We need to build newer and better PUBLIC schools.  We need to stop privatizing everything under the sun.  We need to support and build up our postal system.  We need to do a thousand things and we need to do them now.

But too many people in Congress like Stearns are more interesting in imposing their religious views on the nation than in helping the nation get backs on its feet.  Too many like Stearns play to the fears of the great unwashed rather than try to deal with the real problems that we have.  Too many people in Congress like Stearns are bought and paid for by corporate overlords and thus have sold their souls and are no longer capable of representing the people of their districts or states.


This becomes immediately and vividly clear when you consider all the recent Repugnican blather about the deficit.  The deficit is not Obama's fault.  Mr. Obama inherited an economy devastated by two unpaid-for wars, by huge deficit spending on the part of Bush and the Repugnicans.  Just about every single proposal made by President Obama over the past two years to deal with the problems of our country have been fought tooth and nail by Repugnicans and their leaders who from the outset of Obama's term declared their one goal was to make sure Obama was defeated in 2012.


In other words, for eight years under Georgi Bushki II, nary a peep was heard from the Repugnican side of the aisle as to the incredible waste of taxpayer dollars on illegal war-mongering, on spending projects which benefited the red states, or on wasteful spending which decimated the huge budget surplus left Bushki by President Clinton.


All the hew and cry about the deficit is 1) a Repugnican smoke-screen to obscure the real problems in this country, and 2) an attempt to make the deficit appear to be Obama's fault and thus bring to fruition the Repugnican goal of bringing Obama down in 2012!


There's more on Stearn's attempt to root out 9/11 terrorist responders here.

The original Rick Perry

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

God's own poohbahs (the GOP) corrupted by cold, hard cash

[Photo from Cosmos magazine - it depicts coal sludge in Tennessee)

In the latest issue of Sierra magazine (September/October 2011), Carl Pope, the former executive director of the Sierra Club, writes the following in an article titled "Hostile Takeover of the GOP - Polluter cash sets the Republican environmental agenda."

After eviscerating several of the so-called GOP candidates for the Republican nomination for president in 2012, he says:

"The sad fact is that the GOP has been subjected to a hostile takeover by the oil-and-gas industry--and particularly by Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by ultra-right-wing brothers Charles and David Koch.  It wasn't grassroots fear of solar cells that turned Republican candidates into boosters for climate change.  Instead, think tanks funded by the Koch brothers, ExxonMobil, and others took advantage of the decline of fact-based media to transform climate change into a partisan issue.

"The virus that has undermined the GOP and is weakening U.S. democracy is corruption.  Our Supreme Court has made the United States the only democratic nation where bribery is constitutionally protected, where corporations have the privileges of citizens but none of the obligations, and where money is equated with speech.  Dirty Energy has bought the party of Lincoln and now calls the shots."

I agree with Mr. Pope but would argue that the GOP was not so much corrupted in a hostile takeover by the oil and gas industry, as it was a willing participant, offering its soul for the cold, hard cash that slithered into its bank accounts. 

In addition, I would say that while the Democratic Party remains the only standing member of the
Decency and Common Sense Club in Washington, too many of its adherents have also succumbed to the wiles of filthy lucre.

Change is desperately needed.  Change can come only when money is removed from the political equation.  Unfortunately, that's likely to happen only when an imaginary hell freezes over!

Boy howdy!

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

The Scary Pastor Perry: Texas maniac

Pastor Rickie Perry, the maniac from Texas, took another step on the ladder to Crazy when he told people in Iowa, "if this guy [Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke] prints more money [i.e. increases stimulus spending] between now and the next election, I don't know what you would do with him.  We would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.  Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous - or treasonous in my opinion."

Mr. Bernanke was appointed by Georgi Buski.  The stimulus money was to provide assistance to our struggling population.  Rickie Perry used stimulus money in Texas even while he was railing against it (as did Bachmann in Minnesota)!  And does Perry understand the meaning of "treasonous"?

This is over-the-top even for a maniac from Texas.


Pastor Rickie Perry, the Texas maniac, is just another Repugnican hypocrite.  But you knew that!   According to Teagan Goddard's Political Wire, Perry has now reversed himself on requiring girls to be vaccinated against HPV.

That was in 2007.  Perry must have received instructions from God because he was absolutely certain he was doing the right thing by issuing an executive order in February of 2007 requiring all girls entering the 6th grade to receive the vaccine "unless their parents completed a conscientious objection affidavit form."

It's always interesting when these wingnuts holler about "freedom" and as soon as they get some power they attempt to stifle the freedom of their constituents.  All in the name of their god, of course!

Now, Mr. Perry doesn't say he was wrong, but rather that he was "ill-informed" and shouldn't have made that decision on behalf of all 6th-grade girls and their families in Texas.  You think?  I think God better be very clear when talking with Perry as Perry seems to think God says what Perry wants to hear!



The hypocrisy of Perry, the Texas maniac, continues.  Perry thinks spending is "out of control" in Washington (meaning, of course, those damn Democrats just have no fiscal sense).  Because Perry thinks thusly, he opposes federal subsidies to the agriculture industry.  Ah, but it wasn't always so.

Nope.  As Salon reports, the Feds gave $9,624 to keep Perry from farming his 40 acres in Haskell Country in the 1990s.  In addition, Perry's "tax returns from when he was in the [Texas] Legislature show he received $72,687 in agricultural program payments between 1987 and 1989, when he was farming his land."  Perry's father also received federal monies.  "As for his 40-acre farm, Perry sold it in 1998.  Perry claimed a $17,693 loss on his federal income taxes for that year."

I think that Mr. Perry ought to return all federal subsidies and other monies that he has received personally and all federal subsidies that the state of Texas has received since he has been governor.  We want a president who is consistent in his beliefs and willing to take the consequences of his actions.



Not so long ago, the governor of Texas, Pastor Rick Perry, urged his constituents to pray for rain.  Pray, pray, pray!  God has promised He will hear the prayers of his people.  We desperately need rain, cried Perry, so pray!  Well, hell, God didn't answer those prayers.  Half of Texas burned to the ground and the state is currently in the midst of one of the worst droughts in history!  Shame on God!

But Pastor Perry is undeterred.  If God didn't answer with rain, well maybe he'll help our nation recover from the terrible beating it took under George W. Bush, er, Barack Obama.  Perry seems to think the mess we're in is Obama's fault and that his old Texas sidekick, Georgi Bushki, had nothing to do with it.

Thus, Perry called for a Texas-size prayer rally (that means really beeg!) to be held in Reliant Stadium in Houston.  Coincidentally, by the time the rally was held Perry was well on his way to become a candidate for the GOP nomination for president.  That worked out fine, 'cause most folks don't question god's failures, and so Perry got about 30,000 Texas plus assorted religious freaks from across the country and spent a day haranguing the good Lord to do something, please, about the state of affairs in their beloved ol' U.S. of A.

Try to imagine Pastor Perry at the podium, eyes closed, but pointing skyward, where his god lives, pleading with his imaginary deity:  "Father, our heart breaks for America...We have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us, and for that, we cry out for your forgiveness."  Pastor Perry thinks that if the country becomes truly "christian" God will fix everything that's wrong.  That's why Pastor Perry wants to be president; so he can personally roll in the golden age!

Well, sorry Charlie, but Perry's piddly-ass little deity didn't do anything about the much-needed rain, but rather increased the drought and you can be sure as a Texas thunderstorm he ain't gonna bother hisself trying to fix America when it was Perry and his ilk that brought the country to its knees in the first place!  What's frightening (if you believe in this stuff) is that Perry's god may make conditions worse in the U.S.



We're going to be looking very closely at Perry's so-called accomplishments and the real state of affairs in the state of Texas, but a note should be made about Perry's claim of economic success.  Right now, he's claiming that Texas is leading the nation in job creation.  Well, maybe.  But almost all of those jobs are crap jobs!

Time magazine put it this way:  "...lurking behind Perry's record of job creation are substantial caveats.  Perry largely inherited from George W. Bush the state's business-friendly environment [and that's another story in itself!], with no income tax, an abundant energy supply and a steady influx of cheap labor.  And the state is hardly a workers' paradise.  Nationally, Texas ranks at the bottom in terms of health-insurance coverage; many of the jobs he has created are low-wage positions, and many of the jobs he has lured from other states have required public money and tax subsidies.  Moreover, Perry has made fiscal missteps.  He had to scramble to close a $27 billion budget shortfall earlier this year.  A superhighway he proposed was killed after howls of protest state-wide, and he created a public-private business-development fund that has opened him up to charges of cronyism."


Perry is a teapot crackpot, and sometimes really stupid.  It was a couple of years ago at a Teapot rally in Austin that he threatened secession "if Washington couldn't get its act together."  Secession sounds "treacherous" or even "treasonous" don't you think?  This was said by a guy who has a habit of hanging around folks who still cling to the treasonous convictions of the Confederacy!


Finally, one has to wonder how many people are going to vote for a man who lies as a matter of course, and truly believes that God has called him to run for the presidency.  And, if God has indeed called him to run for the presidency, that must mean God wants him to become president.

Oh, wait.  Georgi Buski lies as a matter of course and he also said God called him to become president.  And how many poor, deluded souls voted for him?  I guess it didn't matter much the first time around.  The Supreme Court voted him in as president even though the majority of the voters wanted Al Gore!

It's scary, though!


More on the scary Pastor Perry later! 

Rachel Maddow - Iowa straw poll irrelevant...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...Michele Bachmann won because she bought the most votes (at $30 a crack!).

But Rachel has more to say about Rick Perry.  Perry is scary!  Does he think Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional?  YES!