Great news: Unemployed Americans have collected $319 billion in jobless benefits over the past 3 years alone

Great news: Unemployed Americans have collected $319 billion in jobless benefits over the past 3 years alone: "Here's a scary graph:

From CNN:

...The federal government has already footed $109 billion of the bill, and lawmakers are super-sensitive to adding further to the deficit. But advocates are turning up the pressure to extend the deadline to file for federal benefits.

It's not just 'advocates': Establishment MSM on full-court press for extended unemployment benefits

Regardless of what Congress does, employers big and small will be paying the tab for years to come.

...The jobless now receive an unparalleled level of support while they look for new positions. Benefits last up to 99 weeks, far surpassing the previous record, which totaled 65 weeks during the recession of the mid-1970s.

Recall this: Video: Pelosi says 'Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program!'

Stabenow piled on the meme:Video of Stabenow: Unemployment compensation is so awesome that everyone ought to be unemployed to stimulate the economy. How's that working out?

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Woah!… Soros Group Says Obama Can Use Armed Forces to Push “Progressive” Agenda

Woah!… Soros Group Says Obama Can Use Armed Forces to Push “Progressive” Agenda: "

John Podesta from the Center for American Progress released a report this week that, among other things, suggested that Obama can use the US Military to push the president’s radical totalitarian agenda.

The Blaze reported:

The liberal Center for American Progress doesn’t believe significant GOP gains in the House and Senate should stop the President from implementing more of his polices. The group released a report Tuesday suggesting ways Obama can bypass Congress to accomplish a progressive agenda, and it cites the president’s power as commander-in-chief to make its point.

“I think most of the conversation since the election has been about how President Obama adjusts to the new situation on Capitol Hill,” Center for American Progress head and former Bill Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta told the Daily Caller. “While that’s an important conversation, it simply ignores the president’s ability to use all levels of his power and authority to move the country forward.”

How does one “move the country forward”? In the center’s report, Podesta explains that Obama can use executive orders, rulemaking, and even the armed forces “to accomplish important change” and that such means “should not be underestimated.”

What exactly does Podesta think the president should use such powers to “accomplish”? Among others, the report suggests “job creation,“ ”quality affordable health care,“ ”sustainable security,“ and ”a clean energy future.”

The report cites specific goals such as mitigating the effects of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, supporting a Palestinian state, and reducing greenhouse gasses by 17 percent by 2020.

The Center for American Progress was given a 3-year $3,000,000 grant by George Soros’ Open Society Institute in 2006.

Media Matters, the communication wing of the Center for American Progress, was given a $1,000,000 grant by George Soros in October.

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GM Won’t Commit to Bailout Repayment… After Claiming Bailout Repayment Was Already Made

GM Won’t Commit to Bailout Repayment… After Claiming Bailout Repayment Was Already Made: "

Do you remember the controversial ad earlier this year where GM CEO announced that his company had paid back their government loans in full?… Then later we find out that they paid back only $8 billion of the $52 billion they borrowed?



…And, then we found out that GM paid off the bailout money by dipping into a separate bailout loan.

Now GM says it’s not sure if the company will pay off its bailout.

General Motors’ new stock got a good start out of the gate Thursday, opening up 6% to $35 from its offer price in its first trade…

…New CEO Dan Akerson said this was the right time for the company to go public again, but stopped short of promising that taxpayers would be paid back with future stock sales.

In January, then-CEO Ed Whitacre promised that taxpayers would be repaid and might even make money on the bailout.

“I think the government’s investment is well placed and I think they’ll make a lot of money,” Whitacre told CNNMoney on the floor of the annual auto show in Detroit. “It won’t be too long.”

But Thursday, Akerson, who succeeded Whitacre as CEO in September, was more cautious when speaking to CNNMoney on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday before the start of trading.

“I don’t know where the market is going to be a year or two down the road, so I can’t make such a bold statement,” he said. “Sure, I’m hopeful, and I’m not saying it can’t happen. I think the company is well positioned … so things look good for General Motors.”

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Krauthammer Calls Acquittal of Gitmo Suspect a ‘Huge Embarrassment’ for Obama

Krauthammer Calls Acquittal of Gitmo Suspect a ‘Huge Embarrassment’ for Obama: "

The first detainee from Guanatamo Bay to be tried in U.S. civilian court has been acquitted on all but one of the more than 280 charges he faced for his alleged role in the coordinated terror bombings of two U.S. embassies overseas.

A jury convicted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani Wednesday on just one count of conspiracy for the 1998 al Qaeda car bomb attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania — attacks that killed 224. Prosecutors had alleged that Ghailani helped an al-Qaeda cell purchase a truck and components for explosives used in the suicide attack.

“This is Ahmed Ghailani. This is Al Qaeda. This is a terrorist. This is a killer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Chernoff said in closing arguments.

On Wednesday, Ghailani was acquitted on all 276 murder and attempted murder accounts, as well as five other conspiracy charges.

After deliberating for five days, the jury returned with a guilty verdict on just one conspiracy count, a minor charge for “conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property with explosives.” According Reuters, this conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison.

The relatively light sentence presents a potentially large setback for President Barack Obama and his administration who were vocal proponents for civilian trials instead of military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees. Prior to his trial, Ghailani had spent five years at Guantanamo bay after being captured in Pakistan in 2004 and held by the CIA.

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Going Soft? AP Says U.S. Chamber Won‘t Oppose Obama in ’12, Supports QE2

Going Soft? AP Says U.S. Chamber Won‘t Oppose Obama in ’12, Supports QE2: "

WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring “this is not personal,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce president said Wednesday that his trade group would work with the White House, despite the chamber’s hardcharging midterm election campaign and continued opposition to Obama administration policies.

Chamber President Thomas Donohue vowed to fight what he called a “regulatory tsunami” facing American business, singling out President Barack Obama’s signature initiatives of the new health care overhaul and financial regulations law.

“We have never seen anything of this scale before,” he said of the rules under consideration. “It defies all logic and common sense.”

But Donohue was careful to separate opposition to the president’s policies and opposition to the president, and he sought to reassure the business community that the chamber’s quarrels with the president had not marginalized the association. He said that the giant trade association will stay out of the 2012 presidential elections and that it was cooperating with the administration on jobs and trade.

The declaration comes after the chamber spent more than $32 million in political ads during the midterm elections, most of them aimed against Democrats. Obama criticized the chamber during the campaign for not disclosing its donors.

The White House also stressed cooperation on Wednesday.

“There are issues that we both have in common that we both want to see progress on,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

The chamber‘s political relationships are multilayered and don’t hue specifically to one party on all issues. Though more closely aligned with Republicans, the chamber worked with the Obama administration to win support for continuing the $700 billion rescue of the banking sector, for its $800 billion economic stimulus and to assist financially reeling automakers.

But Obama and the chamber quarreled loudly during the debate on health care and on an overhaul of financial regulations.

In his speech, Donohue said the administration’s call for disclosure of its donors was an effort to “silence the business community.” Chamber supporters, if revealed, would be come targets of “intimidation and harassment,” he argued.

Donohue also voiced support for monetary policy initiatives by the Federal Reserve under Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. He cautioned lawmakers not to encroach on the independence of the Fed, putting him at odds with many Republicans who have objected to the Fed’s decision to keep borrowing rates low by purchasing $600 billion in Treasury debt.

On Tuesday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and senior House Republicans Mike Pence of Indiana and Tom Price of Georgia called for the Fed to focus primarily on guarding against inflation instead of encouraging more employment. They said the Fed’s efforts on job growth threatened to weaken the dollar.

Donohue said Bernanke “acted in an important way and we must maintain the independence of the Fed and be very, very careful not to louse that up on Capitol Hill.”

In an overture to the administration, the chamber’s board met privately Wednesday with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and U.S Trade Representative Ron Kirk. House Republican Leader John Boehner, the Speaker-in-waiting, and Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota also met with the board.

Even if the chamber does not actively inject itself into the presidential election, it inevitably will clash publicly with the administration, leaving little doubt about its views of Obama’s presidency.

But Donohue’s stance is also pragmatic. The chamber is seeking to influence the administration on issues of international trade, including a South Korea commercial pact that Obama was unable to clinch in Seoul last week. Donohue was in South Korea at the same time.

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Rutgers Prof On Having Lots of Kids: It‘s ’Littering’

Rutgers Prof On Having Lots of Kids: It‘s ’Littering’: "

Joy Behar is known for very enlightened guests and commentary. So what did she bring us yesterday? None other than a Rutgers professor telling us that large families, and having lots of kids, is regarded as “littering.” Why? Because “we have too many people on this planet to begin with.”

The guest is Rutgers University prof Helen Fisher of the Center for Human Evolution Studies, who Pat Archbold says has written for Oprah Magazine. She’s also written several books on sex and love.

The comment starts at about 2:27 below:

(H/T: Weasel Zippers)

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Good News: NJ Contractors Charged $27 Per Light Bulb Under Stimulus Weatherization Program

Good News: NJ Contractors Charged $27 Per Light Bulb Under Stimulus Weatherization Program: "

The weatherization program in the stimulus boondoggle is perhaps the poster child of all that was wrong with the bill. The last time I wrote on this was in September: 'The government can't even get out of it's own way.' Stimulus weatherization program a bust in Michigan due to absurd regulations. Unfortunately, it is getting in its own way in spending some of that dough, attaching to the spending measures an absurd number of requirements. American Thinker had this back in March: The Weatherization Boondoggle. 'Leave it to the left to turn something as sensible as insulating your house into a big-government organized-labor boondoggle.' Gateway Pundit had this: Obama’s Weatherizing Program Costing Taxpayers $57,362 For Each Home. Also here: 'Cash for Caulkers… Government Spent $2 Million of Stimulus Money to Caulk 7 Homes.' Before that I had this related post in February: Report: $5 billion federal weatherization program intended to save energy and create jobs has done neither, 9,100 homes weatherized compared to 593,000 that were supposed to be. Obama's Earth Day speech, April 23, 2009:

We are providing grants to states to help weatherize hundreds of thousands of homes, which will save the families that benefit about $350 each year. That’s like a $350 tax cut.

Looks like that 'tax cut' isn't what it was cracked up to be, due to government inefficiency. Never mind that a real tax cut is when the government confiscates less of your money, rather than you paying less for a commodity.Speaking of commodities, $27 for a single light bulb? From Bloomberg: New Jersey Auditor Questions $27 Light Bulbs Billed Under Stimulus Program

Contractors billed New Jersey $27 for light bulbs, and ran up tens of thousands of dollars in other “unreasonable costs” on a $119 million weatherization program funded with U.S. stimulus money, the state auditor said.

Out of $613,600 in charges reviewed, $54,000, or 8.8 percent, was deemed unreasonable by Auditor Stephen Eells, according to a Nov. 8 report to lawmakers. ...

One contractor sought $27 for light bulbs, while another billed $1.50 for similar items, according to the report and Assistant Auditor Thomas Meseroll. Another vendor charged $75 for carbon-monoxide detectors that it had provided to a different program for $22, the report said. Eells also cited $32,700 in auditing fees when “no services had been performed” and $69,000 in construction costs that couldn’t be verified.

“Weatherization agencies have been reimbursed for unreasonable costs because of inadequate review of financial reports and lack of guidance from the state and federal governments,” said the audit. It said the state agency’s review of contractor expenditures was “cursory.”

...The $27 included “labor and materials” for compact fluorescent light bulbs, Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the department, said today in an e-mailed response to questions.

How many contractors does it take to put up a light bulb? Just one, but it'll cost you! Why the shock that when a boat load of taxpayer money is poured into the trough and only unions hacks are allowed to drink that some will take advantage and gouge the system?

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Kathy Griffin Goes Rosie-Crazy on George W. Bush (Video NSFW)

Kathy Griffin Goes Rosie-Crazy on George W. Bush (Video NSFW): "

—–

Kathy Griffin enters Rosie O’Donnell territory with a completely nonsensical rabid attack on George W. Bush.

You see, in Hollywood, fire can’t melt steel, a fetus won’t fit in a jar and Google gets in the way of the hate. She’s not funny because there’s no truth to what she’s saying. The audience is laughing at her lashing out at Bush not over the high-larity! of someone thinking a fetus might fit in a jar.

And why is she bullying George and Barbara Bush? This can’t be good for the nation’s children.

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Steven Seagal, Lou Ferrigno Join AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Armed ‘Immigration Posse’

Steven Seagal, Lou Ferrigno Join AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Armed ‘Immigration Posse’: "

We welcome all comments below, especially from those who somehow manage to hold on to an ideology that allows for them to be enraged over Arizona enforcing its own laws while at the same time being enraged with ABC for supposedly not doing enough to enforce the ”Dancing With the Stars” voting rules.

The greatest story ever courtesy of the Washington Times:

“America’s toughest sheriff,” Phoenix’s Joe Arpaio, is creating an armed “Immigration Posse” to combat illegal immigration, and Hollywood actors Steven Seagal and Lou Ferrigno, along with Dick Tracy and Wyatt Earp, have signed up.

Fighting Justice Department accusations that his office discriminated against illegal immigrants during arrests, Sheriff Arpaio said the civilian posse of more than 50 members gives citizens a chance to fight the problem inundating their border state.

“Law enforcement budgets are being cut and agencies are losing personnel and yet the battle to stop illegal immigration must continue,” said the sheriff, who heads the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. “Arizona is the busiest port of entry for people being smuggled in from Mexico, Latin and South America. So asking for the public’s help in this endeavor makes sense, especially given the success the posses have experienced over the years.”

Fifty-six new Immigration Posse members from various professions were sworn in by the sheriff Wednesday as “illegal immigration fighters.”

Mr. Seagal, who starred in such action movies as “Under Siege” and “Above the Law,” is a sworn deputy in New Orleans. Mr. Ferrigno, who played the title role in the 1970s TV series “The Incredible Hulk,” works as a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Another new civilian volunteer is Peter Lupus, who starred in “Mission Impossible.”

Read the full article here.

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The Case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani: A Terrorist Let Off Easy

The Case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani: A Terrorist Let Off Easy: "“What I told the prosecutors and what I will tell you and what I spoke to them about is..."