Saturday, November 28, 2009

Illegal Aliens & the Senate Healthcare Bill -- Better Than the House's, But Still Filled With Loopholes

The Senate health reform bill is better than the House-passed bill, in terms of verification of immigrant or citizenship status. But the Senate bill contains a number of serious loopholes by which illegal aliens can and will obtain taxpayer-funded health coverage. This will provide a net bonus to at least a portion of illegal aliens and may well serve as yet another incentive to break U.S. immigration laws. Read More >>

By Jim Edwards, Saturday, November 21, 2009

“The Broken Door” – How the Lack of Enforcement of Immigration Law Threatens Our National Security

For many of us, the recent announcement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks - will be tried in Manhattan has brought back painful memories of the worst attack on United States soil in history. These memories are a reminder of how vulnerable our country can be to its enemies. What many failed to address in the wake of the 9/11 attacks was how closely tied immigration is to our national security. Read More >>

By Jenny Magyari, Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Here's some "uplifting" info to get your morning rolling...

Not. Don't read this one if you want to have a good day... For most of us who watch Fox News or listen to talk radio this is OLD news, but hey, CNBC finally got around to reporting on it, so weak kudos go out to 'em. Oh wait, I bet it's because the President said he was going to tackle this tough nut... and that the Dems are now going to start focusing on it since the stimulus has done nothing but make things worse (or, for an alternate bizarro reality: per the Dems it's stopped things from being much worse).

I shudder to hear that the Prez and Dems are wanting to focus on jobs now. I would guess that, among other horrors I can't even imagine, it means more tax hikes for those of us still working to create government jobs.

Step by step they're taking us to a place that we don't want to go. What truly appalls me is that many of those raising their hands in support of the votes that'll take us there 1) know where we're heading, 2) don't want us to go there, but 3) are willing to sell their souls to stay in power, to cover their own butts.

The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed

As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Americans is either out of work or under-employed.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34040009?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Heritage%2BHotsheet

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Unemployment Claims Data Provide Another Painful Reminder

Democrats Promised Stimulus Would Deliver 3.5 Million Jobs But Only “Stimulated” 3.7 Million More Into Unemployment; “Surplus” unemployment line since stimulus now reaches from Washington, DC to Chicago, IL

In reaction to the unemployment claims data released today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) noted that these statistics are “a painful reminder that the Democrats’ stimulus bill has failed to create jobs.”

“Unemployment rates and claims are not just statistics; they represent real Americans who are no longer receiving a paycheck to provide for themselves and their families,” Camp added. “The facts speak for themselves: there are now 3.7 million more unemployed Americans than the President promised. That’s an unemployment line that would literally stretch from Washington, DC to Chicago, Illinois. ”

Income Security and Family Support Ranking Member John Linder (R-GA) added that, “The Obama Administration can continue to bicker about what constitutes a saved or created job, but their definition is irrelevant to the millions of Americans that find themselves jobless. No amount of Federal spending, no White House jobs summit, nor any unemployment check can replace a wage-earning job.”

BACKGROUND: The Obama Administration predicted the stimulus bill it muscled through Congress in early 2009 would “save or create” 3.5 million jobs. Meanwhile, data released on November 6, 2009 revealed the U.S. unemployment rate reached 10.2% in October, well above the 7.8% level the Administration projected would be the case if stimulus passed. Today, due to the failure of stimulus to create or save jobs, there are 3.7 million more unemployed Americans than the President promised there would be with passage of his stimulus bill. Here is the breakdown between the unemployment the Administration projected and the “surplus” unemployment its stimulus plan has actually delivered:


(it's blurry 'cause of the way I added it, sorry...) Source: Ways and Means staff calculations, using BLS data and Administration projections.

• If the 3.7 million “surplus” unemployed stood back to back, they would form an unemployment line stretching 698 miles – the distance from Washington, DC to Chicago, Illinois.
• The 3.7 million “surplus” unemployed are larger than the population of 24 U.S. States (AK, AR, CT, DC, DE, HI, ID, IA, KS, ME, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, ND, OK, RI, SD, UT, VT, WV, W).
• The 3.7 million “surplus” unemployed includes an average of 8,483 for each of the 435 Congressional districts represented in the U.S. House.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

House could vote Saturday on health bill

The House could hold a rare Saturday vote this weekend to pass its healthcare reform legislation. Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/66355-house-could-vote-sat-vote-on-health-bill

By Michael O'Brien