The Food Stamp President & The Dependency Class

The below story shows participation in the "Food Stamp" program (SNAP) has increased by 70% since President Obama has taken office.

While President Obama's failed policies that actually increased unemployment and extended the economic crisis we have faced since he took office are the cause of this increase in Food Stamps, this increase was also due to President Obama continuing the progressive agenda of the left and his fulfilling of a campaign promise to fundamentally transform us as a country.

The other part of the equation for an increase in the Food Stamp program was because President Obama, in his desire to transform our country, purposely increased the enrollment by allowing higher income earning Americans to sign up for food stamp program (SNAP) --  thus creating and increasing the new "Dependency Class" of American citizen's...

From The Washington Times -- (Emphasis Added)

Enrollment in the food stamp program — officially the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — has soared by 70 percent in the years since President Obama first took office, a new report finds.

The government said the recession ended in 2009, The Wall Street Journal reports, but enrollment in the food stamp program didn’t wane, as would be expected in an improving economy. Since 2008, it’s been on a steady rise, The Journal reports.

A record 47.8 million people participate in the program, as of December 2012 — a figure that translates into a 70 percent rise since 2008, The Journal says. Why?

Despite government claims, the job market is still lagging. The poverty rate is on the rise, The Journal says. And federal laws passed under former President Clinton and further under Mr. Obama are actually driving the enrollment rate higher. Those laws allow for those with higher incomes to take food stamps — the logic being that helping people before they reach crisis financial level will actually stimulate the economy, The Journal says.

The news for the future is more of the same.

Economists predict that food stamp enrollment will continue to rise in the coming year. Then, enrollment will start to drop, but slowly and only slightly, The Journal says.

Cleveland Air Show Cancelled

SEQUESTRATION OR PETTINESS?

A few days ago, The Plain Dealer reported that 

The Cleveland National Air Show has become a victim of the "sequester," as federal budget cuts that took effect at the beginning of the month have forced the cancellation of the annual Labor Day event.

Organizers of the air show issued a news release today announcing its cancellation. It's the first time the air show won't be held in Cleveland since its first event in 1964, said air show spokeswoman Kim Dell.

“After considering the effect this will have on programming, attendance and the financial viability of producing a 2013 event, the Executive Committee of Cleveland National Air Show Inc. Board of Trustees made the decision to cancel this year’s Air Show," Chuck Newcomb, executive director of the show, said in the news release. "Though regrettable, this action is viewed to be in the long term best interest of the Air Show, the City of Cleveland and the valued fans that annually attend the event.”

"It was not an easy decision for the board to make," Dell said."It's a very big deal."The air show attracts 60,000 to 100,000 visitors to Burke Lakefront Airport. It has an annual economic impact of $7.1 million.

Federal budget cuts forced the grounding of air show staples such as the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Army's Golden Knights jump team. Those losses played a huge role in the board's decision, Dell said.

Federal budget cuts? Well, only discretionary spending, and then not much.  The New York Times reported that "recklessly cutting discretionary spending does little to address America’s long-term debt crisis — which is supposedly why we pushed ourselves into the sequester in the first place."

Sequestration was President Obama's idea. So he is cutting discretionary spending on programs that visibly benefit the public, such as White House Tours, The Thunderbirds and The Blue Angels. 

Among the discretionary budget items NOT cut:

• $250 million in aid to Egypt  
• $500 million to Palestine
• Obama's golf outings including his round with Tiger Woods last month @ $80,000 just for security
• Biden's one night hotel stay in Paris @ $585,000 
• Biden's one night hotel stay in London @ $460,000
• Obama's two daughters' spring vacation in the Bahamas, not likely to be less than their holiday last year in Mexico  @ $115,500

So, no Air Show for Cleveland this coming Labor Day weekend. What a petty administration.  

I.R.S. Spends over $60K on "Star Trek" & "Gilligan's Island" themed Training Videos

In what William Shatner described as an, "appalling waste of U.S. tax dollars," the I.R.S., in playing Quentin Tarantino with your tax dollars, made video's based on Star Trek and Gilligan's Island for training purposes....

From The Hill --

The Internal Revenue Service says it regrets making two $60,000 training videos in 2010 that parodied the popular TV shows, “Star Trek” and “Gilligan’s Island.”

In the wake of congressional criticism of the two videos, the IRS said it has taken steps to make “wise use of taxpayer funds while ensuring a tone and theme appropriate for the nation's tax system,” according to the Associated Press.

In October the head of human resources for the Department of Veterans Affairs resigned after an inspector general’s report found that the agency spent $6.1 million on two weeklong conferences, one of which included $49,516 to produce a parody video of the late-Gen. George S. Patton.

The six-minute “Star Trek” video made in Maryland was shown to agency employees at a conference in 2010. In the video, IRS workers are meticulously dressed as characters from the popular TV show and are flying a staged space craft towards the planet, “Notax.”

Lawmakers overseeing the IRS decided that the "Gilligan's Island" video contained legitimate training value, but that the “Star Trek” video did not. They subsequently released the “Star Trek” video to the public, but have kept the “Gilligan’s Island” video private. (More...)

With the way President Obama and the Democrats want to continue raising taxes, that the Star Trek spoof was going to take place on the planet - "Notax" -- it was more of a comedy than a training video.

Whereas, the "Gilligan's Island" training video and being lost at sea is much more representative of President Obama's Administration.

U.S. Border Patrol Uniforms - Made in Mexico!

You can't make this stuff up....

From CNS News --

(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has granted uniform contracts to VF Imagewear, Inc., an apparel company that relies on manufacturing sites in Mexico for a “significant percentage” of its occupational garments.

The latest contract with the company was awarded on Dec. 20, 2012, to make “uniform and insignia items” for the CBP at an estimated cost of $6,157,997.57, and a ceiling of $8 million.

The CBP, which is responsible for protecting America’s borders, told CNSNews.com that items from VF Imagewear, a subsidiary of VF Corporation, are manufactured in a number of locations, “including Mexico.”

“There are no domestic preference regulations or statutes applicable to DHS/CBP that would prohibit the manufacture of uniform items in Mexico,” the CBP said. “In fact, United States obligations under International Agreements require that the Agency accept items manufactured in Mexico.”

“Consistent with the foregoing, VF is permitted to provide items manufactured in Mexico under the current contract,” the agency said.

According to the company’s 2012 annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “VF operates manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.” (More...)

Medicaid Expansion is Wrong Way for Ohio

The below is from Marianne Gasiecki, Founder of the Mansfield Tea Party and Tea Party Patriots Co-State Coordinator for Ohio....

From the Columbus Dispatch --

Ohio Right to Life President Michael Gonidakis recently accused tea party leaders of being more interested in their own ideology than in the health of Ohio residents .

Jeff Malek, coordinator for the Wadsworth 9-12 Group, was quoted as saying, “Instead of trying to understand why so many conservatives reject the expansion of Medicaid in Ohio, Mr. Gonidakis falsely accuses the tea party of a sentiment that has never been expressed by anyone within the movement.”

Unlike Gonidakis, the tea party and other conservative organizations believe that life has value and should be treated with dignity and respect, something Medicaid cannot provide.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office revealed that children on Medicaid receive worse care than children with no insurance. Mothers seeking specialty care for their children covered by Medicaid were denied appointments 66 percent of the time and dental appointments 64 percent of the time.

Medicaid patients with head and neck cancer are 50 percent more likely to die. Regarding other major surgical procedures, Medicaid patients have a longer length of stay, the highest hospital costs and the highest risk of death. How is that caring for our residents?

Gov. John Kasich stated he was using his lessons learned from the Good Book as justification for the expansion of this huge government program, urging lawmakers to examine their consciences and not let concerns about government spending trump this “moral imperative.” Debt is frowned upon in the Bible; in fact, it is considered to be a sin to incur debt without paying it back. Even our Founders frowned upon burdening future generations with our debt.

I'm also confident in saying that, when taking care of our fellow man, it doesn't mean providing inferior care, and yet that’s exactly what Gonidakis and Kasich are promoting.

Chris Long, president of the Ohio Christian Alliance, expressed a similar sentiment: “In my years of pastoring in the inner city, no one was denied medical care. In fact, the people that I pastored who were at or below the poverty line received excellent medical care with existing programs.”

Many conservative organizations, and governors, have offered free-market-based solutions to providing cost-effective, quality care to those in need. If caring for our fellow man is truly the objective, that is the direction our legislators should take us.

Marianne Gasiecki
Ohio State Co-Coordinator
Tea Party Patriots

Senator Portman Joins Sherrod Brown in Supporting Internet Sales Tax

Last week we posted an action alert urging people to contact Senator Rob Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown and ask them to vote against the Market Fairness Act (Internet Sales Tax).  

While Portman, in humoring what is left of his conservative base, voted against the Senate Budget, he joined in with his new Bi-Partisan Buddy, Senator Sherrod Brown, and voted in support of the Market Fairness Act, aka -- Internet Sales Tax.

And, shrugging off the Sequester Cuts and the fiscal mess our country is facing, in again holding hands with his new voting pal in the U.S. Senate, Portman joined in with Sherrod Brown and voted against the amendment offered by Senator Ted Cruz to reduce aid for the Muslim Brotherhood aligned forces in Egypt.

From Red State --   

Early Saturday morning, the Senate adopted its first concurrent budget resolution in four years.  Democrats cleverly made sure to hand out enough hall passes to vulnerable red state senators so they could vote against the $1 trillion tax increase, while ensuring that it ultimately passed 50-49.  Senators Baucus, Begich, Hagan, and Pryor were given the green light to vote no.  After a 13-hour “votarama” on 70 amendments, there is a lot to digest.  Obviously, none of this will have the force of law as all of the amendments that passed are attached to this budget resolution, which is dead on arrival in the House.  However, there are some important votes that can be used against Democrats in vulnerable seats, such as those pertaining to Obamacare, abortion, cap and trade, and guns.

On the Republican side, perhaps the most egregious vote was the Enzi amendment to allow states to form a cartel and collect internet sales taxes for other states.  The so-called Market Fairness Act passed in the form of a second degree amendment by 75-24, with the support of 26 Republicans.  This will send the message to Harry Reid that he has more than 60 votes to pass this as a standalone bill.  In doing so, they have voted to grow government all over the country, hurt low-tax states, impose taxation without representation, saddle small businesses with collecting taxes for 10,000 distinct tax jurisdictions, and adulterate the freest most successful entity known to man.  You can read more about it here.

Here are the 26 Republicans:

Alexander
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Corker
Crapo
Enzi
Fischer
Graham
Hoeven
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson, R
Kirk
McCain
Moran
Portman
Risch
Sessions
Shelby
Thune
Wicker

One other important vote from a Republican vantage point was Ted Cruz’s amendment to reduce foreign aid to Egypt.  It only garnered the support of 25 senators.   I’ll check back with more updates after fully digesting all the votes.

In Washington: Ethics are for Little People

From Tea Party Patriots -- 

In the real world, violating the law (or even the strong, likely suspicion of violating the law) brings down the wrath of one’s superiors. Apparently, not in Washington:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is standing behind Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) despite calls for the veteran lawmaker to relinquish his leadership post while he is investigated on ethics charges.

Pelosi and other members of the Democratic leadership, including Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.), backed Andrews on Wednesday as he battles charges of using campaign funds for family trips.

What did he do? Merely use campaign dollars for a wedding trip:

In 2012, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) released a report charging Andrews with tapping tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to pay for a 2011 trip to a wedding in Scotland and multiple jaunts to Los Angeles with his daughters.

….It referred the case to the House Ethics Committee last year, citing “substantial reason to believe that he improperly used congressional campaign and Leadership PAC funds for personal use.”

Andrews has argued the trips were political because the groom in the Scotland wedding and his daughters were volunteer campaign aides.

OCE sharply disagreed, stating that the House Democrat “engaged in no political activity, gave no political speeches, raised no campaign funds and did not discuss his campaign.”

The OCE, which does not have subpoena power, also said Andrews failed to provide investigators with his congressional and campaign calendars and supplied credit card statements “after making significant redactions.”

Of course, Rep. Andrews is claiming innocence:

Andrews has maintained his innocence and says the charges against him are “politically motivated.” He said the Ethics Committee investigation that was announced on Tuesday would exonerate him.

“This review will confirm that I have always followed the rules and met all the standards of the House,” Andrews said in a statement. “I will eagerly provide answers to any questions the committee has. In the meantime, I will continue to work as hard as I can and serve my constituents and our country as a member and in any other capacity in which I am chosen to serve.”

The Ethics panel is notoriously slow-footed with its investigations — it could be months before the review of Andrews is complete.

In the meantime, he’s still pushing for more spending:

It appeared to be business as usual for Andrews on Wednesday.

He took to the House floor to defend the party’s budget, and his Rayburn Office doors stood wide open, with no reporters or cameramen stationed outside — a far cry from the mob scene that greeted New Jersey colleague Sen. Robert Menendez when separate ethics allegations against him gained attention.

Ethics violations are nothing new to Capitol Hill. The Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named a full 16 Members as being under investigation for ethics charges in 2009 alone. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is one of the most famous, of course, though others exist – Senator David Vitter (R-LA) called prostitutes on his taxpayer-paid phone.

It is notable that Rep. Andrews reimbursed his campaign committee and leadership PAC to the tune of over $30,000. In the meantime, the House Democratic leadership is defending Rep. Andrews, noting that he has only been charged with an ethics violation, not found guilty.

What do you think? At what point should a Member of Congress be forced to retire, or otherwise be held accountable for his or her actions? Does it matter that reimbursement was made? Let us know in the comments.