DId Chrysler "Really" repay their TARP Loan?

Using Obama math (48 States + 2 States = 57 States), the Treasury Department is claiming Chrysler has repaid their TARP loans....

From Congressman Westmoreland (GA-3) --

Washington, May 26 -

 

Earlier this week, the Treasury Department announced Chrysler had repaid its outstanding Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) loans.  According to this announcement, the Treasury Department paid a total of $12.5 billion to Chrysler – yet only received $10.6 back.  So let’s do the math:

$12.5B Loan
-$10.6B Repayment
$1.9B Still Outstanding

Is this what the Treasury Department considers repayment of a loan?  I was always under the impression that it involved paying the entire loan off – not just a portion of it.

Further down the announcement, comes the truth hidden amongst the rhetoric lauding this early ‘repayment.’ 

“Treasury continues to hold a 6.6 percent common equity stake in Chrysler. As previously stated, however, Treasury is unlikely to fully recover its remaining outstanding investment of $1.9 billion in Chrysler.”

So what they really should have announced was that Chrysler repaid some of its loans and the federal government decided to excuse almost $2 billion in outstanding loans in exchange for continuing to own a portion of the company.  I, for one, am appalled at this announcement.  Not only does the Treasury try to take the fact that Chrysler has failed to repay its loans as something positive, they have also decided that almost two billion dollars is not worth trying to recoup.  I think the Treasury Department and I have a very different idea of what success is.

David Asman with Fox Business had an interesting take on the situation as well.

National Science Foundation Spends Billions for Studies on Farmville, March Madness & Rap Songs

Talk about Junk Science...

From Senator Tom Coburn --

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released a new oversight report, “The National Science Foundation: Under the Microscope” that raises serious questions regarding the agency’s management and priorities. The report identifies more than $1.2 billion the National Science Foundation (NSF) has lost due to waste, fraud, duplication and mismanagement and an additional $1.7 billion in unspent funds.

“As a practicing physician and a two-time cancer survivor, I understand the benefits of scientific research. Investing in innovation and discovery can transform our lives, advance our understanding of the world and create new jobs. There is no question NSF serves an important –and legitimate – purpose in our society and has contributed to scientific discovery. As the NSF accurately notes, advances like the Internet, cloud computing, bar codes and magnetic resonance imaging technology were supported with investments from NSF,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Unfortunately, in some ways NSF has undermined its core mission through mismanagement and misplaced priorities. For instance, spending taxpayer dollars to study why some college basketball teams dominate March Madness, funding trips for romantically-involved NSF employees and duplicating programs contributes to our debt rather than science,” Dr. Coburn said.

“As part of my commitment to conduct better oversight on how Washington spends your money, this NSF report is the latest in a series of oversight reports. At a time when the U.S. is being both challenged as the world's scientific and technological leader and threatened by a nearly insurmountable $14 trillion debt, we must learn to do more with less. This report demonstrates how NSF can do both. I hope NSF and the scientific community will welcome this oversight and offer insights on how to better prioritize our nation’s limited financial resources to advance science and reduce wasteful spending,” Dr. Coburn said.

Examples of the more than $3 billion in waste and duplication outlined in the report include:

• $80,000 study on why the same teams always dominate March Madness;
• $315,000 study suggesting playing FarmVille on Facebook helps adults develop and maintain relationships;
• $1 million for an analysis of how quickly parents respond to trendy baby names;
• $50,000 to produce and publicize amateur songs about science, including a rap called “Money 4 Drugz,” and a misleading song titled “Biogas is a Gas, Gas, Gas”;
• $2 million to figure out that people who often post pictures on the internet from the same location at the same time are usually friends; and
• $581,000 on whether online dating site users are racist.

Additionally, the report details examples of mismanagement including:

• Hundreds of millions of dollars lost to ineffective contracting;
• $1.7 billion in unspent funds sitting in expired, undisbursed grant accounts;
• At least $3 million in excessive travel funds
• A lack of accountability or program metrics to evaluate expenditures.
• Inappropriate staff behavior including porn surfing and Jello wrestling and skinny-dipping at NSF-operated facilities in Antarctica.

The report also identifies duplication between NSF and other departments and agencies. NSF is one of at least 15 federal departments, 72 sub-agencies, and 12 independent agencies engaged in federal research and development.

NSF also duplicates the work of the Department of Education and other government agencies in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. In 2010, there were 28 STEM education programs at NSF totaling $1.2 billion. Across the federal government, there are 99 STEM education programs totaling $3 billion.

Finally, the report makes a number of recommendations:

• Establish Clear Guidelines for What Constitutes “Transformative” and “Potentially Transformative” Science. The agency has begun this process, but much more needs to be done to evaluate the merit of each project funded by the agency.
• Set Clear Metrics to Measure Success and Standards to Ensure Accountability. The agency clearly needs to improve its grant administration and evaluation mechanisms. Addressing these areas will help set better priorities while also rooting out fraudulent and inappropriate expenditures.
• Eliminate NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economics (SBE) Directorate ($255 million in FY 2010). The social sciences should not be the focus of our premier basic scientific research agency.
• Consolidate the Directorate for Education & Human Resources ($872 million in FY 2010). In addition to excessive duplication within the agency and across the federal government, spending on education and human resources comes at the expense of actual scientific pursuits. Consolidation can lead to increased investment in transformative scientific studies.
• Use It or Lose It: NSF Should Better Manage Resources It Can No Longer Spend or Does Not Need and Immediately Return $1.7 Billion of Unspent, Expired Funds It Currently Holds. Better grant management and closeout procedures could increase available funds for research and provide savings for the federal government.
• Reduce Duplication: Develop a Strategic Plan to Streamline Federal Research and Development. With so many agencies performing research and development, the White House Office of Science and Technology should develop a strategic plan to better coordinate research and development efforts and make specific recommendations to eliminate duplication.
• Provide the NSF Inspector General Additional Resources and Place a Greater Emphasis on the Office of Inspector General’s Findings. Reducing outright fraud and inappropriate expenditures is an important priority.

###

Tea Party Patriot Co-Founder Jenny Beth Martin speaking at Ohio "We the People Convention"

 

For Immediate Release

TEA PARTY PATRIOTS ANNOUNCED AS CONVENTION SPONSOR

CO-FOUNDER SCHEDULED TO SPEAK AT

“WE THE PEOPLE CONVENTION”

National Tea Party Figure Jenny Beth Martin Highlights Friday’s Luncheon

COLUMBUS, Ohio – May 17, 2011 – We the People Convention, Inc., a 501 (c) 4 non-profit organization today announced that the Tea Party Patriots have signed on as a sponsor of the statewide “We the People Convention” and that Jenny Beth Martin , nationally known speaker and co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, will be the featured guest speaker at the Friday luncheon on July 1, 2011.  The Tea Party Patriots is a national grassroots coalition with more than 3,300 locally organized chapters and more than 15 million supporters nationwide. The “We the People Convention” is being held on July 1-2, 2011, at the Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus. (www.WethePeopleConvention.org).

“I am so pleased that Jenny Beth, a true grassroots patriot, has agreed to speak at the We the People Convention,” said Tom Zawistowski, convention president. “Jenny Beth has influenced and motivated Americans nationwide with her message about fiscal responsibility and constitutionally limited government. She has inspired many people to get off the sidelines and take a more active role in holding government accountable. I know our attendees will give her a warm welcome.”

After hearing CNBC commentator Rick Santelli challenge Chicago to a 1773, Boston-style response to the country’s expanding, fiscally irresponsible government, Martin, along with several others, orchestrated the first round of tea parties on February 27. After which, she helped coordinate a nationwide April 15 rally to coincide with Tax Day, resulting in more than 850 TEA parties across the country with over 1.2 million people gathering to advocate government fiscal responsibility.

Additionally, Martin helped organize and lead the September 12, 2009 protest in Washington and is remembered for her comments directed at the legislators, “We were not loud enough in February, in April, in July. Can you hear us now?”

In April 2010, Time magazine named Martin one of the most influential people in the world. She has been featured on “The Glenn Beck Show” and “Your World” with Neil Cavuto as well as in various publications, including The New York Times.

The “We the People Convention” consists of two days of educational breakout sessions, interspersed with major national figures including conservative strategist Dick Morris. Its purpose is to educate and train citizens about the political process and to encourage involvement in that process at the grassroots level.

#30# 

Arizona Tea Party Groups Reject Tea Party License Plates

Standing strong on principle and unwilling to compromise their demands for less government, many Tea Party groups in AZ have come out against the State-Sponsored Tea Party license plates in Arizona.

The below piece is from Annette McHugh, our Arizona State Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots...

Today, a large group of Arizona tea party organizations, including Tea Party Patriots affiliates, jointly rejected a recently passed  bill, SB1402, authorizing the state to issue “Tea Party” license plates and distribute sale proceeds to “Tea Party organizations” by a government appointed and supervised board.  The very foundation of the Tea Party Movement stresses the importance of less government, not more, and we will not compromise this principle to justify requests and acceptance of monies generated by a state governmental agency.

For centuries, our elected leaders have compromised their own principles of law inherent in our U.S. Constitution, and have justified this by rationalizing the greater good is served in the long term. As a result of these compromises, we find ourselves today in economic, social, and national security crises which are the direct result of our governments compromising the very foundational principles of our U.S. Constitution. These very same Constitutional laws and principles are the basis and source of the Tea Party Movement’s very existence. Without committed adherence to these principles, the Tea Party Movement becomes vulnerable to divisiveness, instead of unity, at a time in our nation and state’s history when remaining united and committed to these principles is extremely crucial.

“Arizona’s tea partiers understand, recognize, and fully appreciate that the bill was well-intentioned, but its unintentional consequences has created unneccesary divisiveness among Arizona Tea Parties, and have subjected Arizona Tea Parties to unfounded scrutiny questioning our committment and adherence to the foundational principles of the Tea Party Movement,” said Annette McHugh, Arizona State Coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group to which the majority of the states Tea Party groups belong.  “We want less government, not more, and feel it necessary at this time to distinguish and assert the Arizona Tea Party Patriots Associations’ position is to remain committed to adherence of Tea Party foundational principles, without government involvement.

The Arizona Tea Party Patriots Association with the support of the Tea Party Patriots, asserts opposition, in principle, to government involvement in fundraising for, and oversight of, local tea party organizations or other private entities.  These actions put Tea Parties at great risk of becoming dependent upon government generated funds to promote and educate others of U.S. Constitutional laws and principles, as opposed to being self-reliant upon ourselves to generate money to promote and grow our memberships. Self-reliancy is the basis for Free Markets, another foundational principle of the Tea Party Movement. We remain committed to reigning in government—and oppose its’ expansion in creating another agency, or voluntary Tea Party committee overseen by, and accountable to, the government.

“Tea party organizations across the state were not all consulted about the plates when the initial idea was presented to only a few Tea Party groups. Our local group and members are not behind it. We like the plate but oppose government involvement.” said Vera Anderson, founder and leader of the Daisy Mountain Tea Party Patriots in Anthem.

Tea party members who stand steadfast to the movement’s core principles, do not support the idea that government should be involved in doling out money to local tea party organizations.

“The structure of disbursement of funds raised by this government sponsored venture is vulnerable to self-serving individuals who may be appointed to the state-established Tea Party Committee, in addition to the potential misappropriation of funds to be used for purposes other than what SB1402 designates. These Tea Party license plates have resulted in more government, not less,” said Valerie Roller, representing the Tea Party Patriots of Glendale, AZ.

Tea Party Patriots is a national grassroots coalition with more than 3,300 locally organized chapters and more than 15 million supporters nationwide.  Tea Party Patriots is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets.  Visit Tea Party Patriots online at www.TeaPartyPatriots.org.

Way to go Annette! We salute and support the Tea Party Patriots and their affiliates in Arizona!

What is an Interstate Health Care Compact & why they are good?

Here is a good video explaining the 50 State initiative by the Tea Party Patriots and Health Care Compact Alliance to enact Interstate Health Care Compacts at the state levels.  The draft legislation for the Health Care Compact in Ohio is in the final stages and is expected to be introduced in the near future.

Over 27% of Your Workday Goes Towards Taxes

Below is a very useful article and chart to put in perspective exactyly how much of your work day goes towards paying taxes.

From The Tax Foundation --

In 2011, Americans will devote 2 hours and 13 minutes of every eight-hour workday, or over a quarter of their working hours (27.7%), to paying taxes. In a nine-to-five workday, it takes until 11:13 a.m. to earn enough to pay that day's share of taxes at the federal, state and local level.

If we add the federal deficit to the picture—that is, if the federal government were planning to col­lect enough in taxes during 2011 to finance all of its spending—Americans would work until lunchtime, 12:07 p.m., for the government, before keeping any of their earnings for themselves.

The Tax Bite in the Eight-Hour Day, which measures the nation's tax burden in hours and minutes, is an offshoot of the Tax Foundation's annual Tax Freedom Day calculation, which measures the tax burden in months, weeks, and days. These calendar- and clock-based illustrations are a useful way to explain how much the nation as a whole spends on government. Both Tax Freedom Day and the Tax Bite in the Eight-Hour Day illustrate, in similar ways, what portion of their income Americans keep for themselves and what percentage they spend on government.

How Long Do Americans Work for Each Type of Tax?

Figure 1 shows how long the nation must work in the average workday to earn enough to pay each type of tax:

• Individual income taxes require the most work. All but seven states, and some localities, levy an income tax. When these are added to the federal income tax burden, income taxes are projected to amount to an average of 46 minutes of work in an eight-hour workday.
• Social insurance taxes (taxes dedicated to funding social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare) require 29 minutes of work.
• Sales and excise taxes require 20 minutes of work.
• Property taxes require 16 minutes of work.
• Corporate income taxes require 16 minutes of work.

Figure 1: How Much of Each Eight-Hour Workday Goes to Paying the Nation's Tax Bills in 2011?

To read the whole article, please click here.

Take Default Off the Table" Support the Full Faith & Credit Act

In speaking loudly but carrying a little stick, Speaker John Boehner and the D.C. establishment are incorrectly predicting armageddon like consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised and we go into default

The threat of default is nothing more than a political ruse for allowing the establishment elite in D.C. to continue spending us into oblivion, where in reality the Full Faith and Credit Act will enable spending cuts to be made while allowing our country to satisfy needed financial obligations -- thus taking the threat of default off the table.

Analysts from DC’s premiere think tanks have come out in support of the principles behind the Full Faith and Credit Act: Heritage here, CATO here, and AEI here.  

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently conceded in testimony before the House Budget Committee that the Full Faith and Credit Act would “reduce the risk with the debt limit.”  The Foundry’s full account of Chairman Bernanke’s testimony is here.

From the RSC --