Rep. Chris Smith's New Bill is Necessary to Restore Abortion Funding Neutrality

/PRNewswire/ -- D.C. Family Research Council Action today praised U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) for introducing bipartisan legislation to codify federal abortion funding restrictions that have been greatly undermined this year. With passage of a health care law that will fund and subsidize abortion, and with efforts by pro-abortion senators to open up military bases to abortion, Rep. Smith is introducing legislation to enact a government-wide abortion funding ban.

Family Research Council Action Senior Vice President Tom McClusky praised the bill with the following comments:

"In the last year, we have seen President Obama and pro-abortion congressional leaders make repeated attempts to eviscerate the long-agreed line on federal funding of abortion. They began by enacting the abortion funding health care law and are now advancing an abortion agenda that includes turning our military hospitals into abortion facilities.

"The American people have responded swiftly and emphatically that their hard earned dollars should not be used to pay for other peoples abortions. We applaud Congressman Smith and numerous Members on both sides of the aisle for responding to the concerns of the American people by introducing a measure that applies an abortion funding ban across the federal government.

"The American people, regardless of their views of abortion's legality, should not be forced to pay for someone's abortion. The Smith bill would protect the American taxpayer and restore the traditional ban on government funding of elective abortion.

"Despite recent claims by the Department of Health and Human Services that it will not fund abortion, even the non-partisan Congressional Research Service agreed yesterday that there is no statutory prohibition on funding abortion in the high risk pools. Both pro-life and pro-abortion groups agree that the courts are likely to require federal abortion funding unless the law says differently which is why passage of Congressman Smith's abortion funding neutrality bill is so essential.

"We applaud all the Democrats and Republicans cosponsoring the Smith abortion funding ban, and urge all Americans to support this commonsense effort to restore government funding neutrality on abortion," concluded McClusky.

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Taxpayer Group Launches Petition to Ask Sen. Ben Nelson to Keep His Pledge

PRNewswire/ -- Today, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) continued its pressure on Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) by releasing an online petition asking him to oppose the Senate healthcare bill because it violates the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

The petition, found at www.nohealthcaretaxes.org, urges Sen. Nelson to be a "no" vote on any procedural votes and/or final passage votes on this anti-taxpayer piece of legislation. The petition also reminds him that a failure to do so would be a breach of trust between him and the people of Nebraska.

"Sen. Nelson has shown the courage of his convictions. He is alone among Senators to have taken the Pledge as a Democrat," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. "The pressure is building now to break that Pledge, however. Majority Leader Harry Reid is pressing his caucus to deliver a healthcare bill, and it appears more and more likely he will not have a single Republican to lend a 'bipartisan' label to the government healthcare bill. Sen. Nelson needs encouragement to know that he's not standing alone in the face of this pressure."

The petition follows up on ATR's recent launch of a series of television ads encouraging the Senator to oppose the healthcare bill. The ads will run on both local and national news and commentary broadcast for three weeks, reflecting the significance of Sen. Nelson's vote to prevent tax increases as part of the healthcare bill.

"It's clear with Harry Reid's decision to include the public option in any healthcare legislation going to the floor that every Democrat vote is required to pass cloture. Now is the time for Sen. Nelson to follow through on the promise he made to get elected and stand by the Taxpayers," continued Norquist.

Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases. For more information or to arrange an interview please contact John Kartch at (202) 785-0266 or by email at jkartch@atr.org.

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Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against HUD to Obtain ACORN Documents Seeks Records Related to HUD's Taxpayer Support

Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against HUD to Obtain ACORN Documents
Seeks Records Related to HUD's Taxpayer Support of Controversial Community Organization


/Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to obtain records related to federal grants provided to the controversial "community organization" Association for Community Reform Now (ACORN).

Judicial Watch filed its original Freedom of Information Act request on July 17. HUD acknowledged receipt of the request by letter on August 4th and granted itself additional time to process the request. However, HUD has not abided by its own extended deadline and has failed to provide Judicial Watch with a specific date by which it would respond, even after Judicial Watch agreed to limit the scope of the request to just seven states. (These states are California, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Louisiana.) By law, HUD had 20 days to respond to Judicial Watch's request. Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit on September 23, 2009.

Judicial Watch seeks the following records:

1. Any and all documents concerning money given to the ACORN and/or any of its affiliates (since January, 2000).

2. Any and all documents concerning any actions and/or disbarments against ACORN, for reasons including but not limited to abuse of grant money, misconduct, etc. (since January, 2000).

Over the last two weeks, the U.S. Senate has voted to deny ACORN access to housing funds, while the House of Representatives voted to deny ACORN all federal funds. The U.S. Census Bureau, meanwhile, has severed its partnership with the organization for the 2010 U.S. Census. The IRS also just severed a program relationship with ACORN. These actions were taken after videos surfaced depicting ACORN workers attempting to advise undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration and child prostitution laws. Most relevant to the lawsuit against HUD, are the videos depicting ACORN workers providing advice on purchasing a house to run as a brothel for underage, illegal alien girls.

"The Obama administration needs to come clean to the American people about its relationship with this disgraced organization, especially in light of President Obama's personal connections to ACORN," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Given ACORN's scandalous record, the federal government has no business supporting the organization with taxpayer dollars. It is troubling, given President Obama's promises of transparency, we have had to sue to try to gain access to the ACORN documents."

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New Poll Shows American Public Supports Immediate TARP Repayment: Senate Vote Risks Public Ire

/PRNewswire/ -- A poll commissioned by National Media Inc. over the weekend demonstrates that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that healthy banks should be allowed to repay TARP investments immediately. Of the one thousand respondents, 86 percent believe that banks should be allowed to repay the government immediately, if they are capable of doing so. Only 11 percent disagreed.

"Last night the U.S. Senate had the opportunity to allow banks who are financially sound to repay their TARP money, but failed to do so," said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist and commentator. "This is counter to the American public's desire and some of the better respected experts and elected officials on this issue."

Additionally, 75 percent of those polled believe taxpayers should expect a return on their investment when the funds are repaid. If informed of a hypothetical return -- 10 percent was used in the poll -- 65 percent of respondents are more likely to support the TARP program (Actual return will vary based on valuation of the warrants that Treasury hold in each TARP bank. Analysts have stated that returns could be as high as 15 percent.)

"The data shows that policymakers would have gotten more support for the TARP if it had been more clearly understood that the taxpayers would get a return on their investment," said Castellanos. "One of the most controversial acts of the financial crisis could have been politically more palatable to taxpayers if they'd understood the TARP was designed to produce a return on investment, not just throw taxpayers' money to the wind."

TARP Perception Survey Questions:

Q1. Last fall, in order to address the financial crisis, the government
invested hundreds of billions of dollars in banks and financial
institutions. This initiative is known by the acronym TARP. Do you
think the TARP investments were a good idea?
Yes - 31%
No - 54%
Don't know/ No Response - 16%

Q2. If a bank has the financial strength to pay the government back,
should they be allowed to do so immediately?
Yes - 86%
No - 11%
Don't know/ No Response - 4%

Q3. As healthy banks repay this money to the government, should taxpayers
expect a return on this investment?
Yes - 75%
No - 19%
Don't know/ No Response - 6%

Q4. If you knew that taxpayers were going to get a return on their TARP
investment, say 10%, would you be more or less supportive of the TARP
program?
More - 64%
No -23%
Don't know/ No Response - 13%


National Media Inc. periodically commissions surveys in its ongoing research and analysis of the public policy issues of the day. This poll was conducted in coordination with GfK Custom Research, North America.

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Boehner: GAO Report Confirms Republican Concerns About Stimulus Waste

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement on the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office report on the implementation of the Democrats’ trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill, which noted that many states do not currently have the ability to ensure “stimulus” money is being spent responsibly:

“This report confirms some of taxpayers’ worst fears about the flawed ‘stimulus’ spending bill that was rushed through the Democratic Congress. It indicates that many states do not have the ability to ensure ‘stimulus’ dollars are spent responsibly, and much of the ‘stimulus’ money is likely to be spent in a manner that has nothing to do with creating jobs. As a result of the flawed ‘stimulus,’ Washington has seized hundreds of billions of dollars from our children and grandchildren under the flawed premise that we can spend our way back to prosperity, and this report provides further confirmation that the money is in danger of being squandered in a massive act of generational theft. At a time when middle-class families and small businesses are looking for real solutions to help create jobs and rebuild their savings, don’t the American people deserve better?

“In recent weeks, we have learned that taxpayer dollars are being used to fund a skateboard park in Rhode Island, bike racks in Washington, DC, and highway studies instead of construction projects in Ohio – all in the name of economic ‘stimulus.’ Today’s report is a warning that we may have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far when it comes to the waste and abuse of taxpayer funds resulting from the so-called ‘stimulus.’ Republicans had a better solution to get our economy moving again – a proposal that would have created twice as many jobs at half the cost of the Democrats’ flawed plan. While I am disappointed the Democrats opposed our plan, I am hopeful they will finally decide to work with Republicans and craft better solutions to the problems facing the American people.”

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Campaign to Sell President's Budget Has "No Noticeable Impact" as Americans Realize It Spends Too Much, Taxes Too Much, Borrows Too Much

President Obama will hold a news conference this evening, as the campaign to sell his fiscally-irresponsible budget continues. Last week, the effort kicked-off with some fanfare, as news broke that his presidential campaign apparatus would be called upon to spin his $3.6 trillion budget blueprint. However, more than a week into the “budget campaign,” it seems the Administration and its political allies are having some trouble building support for the budget with the American people – and even some Democratic Members of Congress. McClatchy News reports:

“President Barack Obama’s army of canvassers fanned out across the nation over the weekend to drum up support for his $3.55 trillion budget, but they had no noticeable impact on members of Congress, who on Monday said they were largely unaware of the effort.”

“‘News to me,’ said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a House Budget Committee member, of the canvassing.”

The reason the President’s campaign seems to be spinning its wheels is because the American people are realizing his budget will harm our economy and destroy jobs by spending too much, taxing too much, and borrowing too much. Last Friday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a devastating report, noting that the President’s budget is actually $2.3 trillion more costly than the White House initially claimed. And yesterday, the President doubled-down on his plan for a national energy tax, with the Administration promising that it will fight for the tax, even though it will cost families up to $3,100 more per year. In other words, the more the American people are learning about this budget, the less they like it – and Members of Congress, including many Democrats, are hearing about it.

On WKRC radio in Cincinnati this morning, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) discussed the Democrats’ nervousness over the President’s budget:

“And so, the real key is what’s going to happen here over the next couple of weeks – whether we can stop the budget proposal that he has and put enough pressure on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to take a second look at this proposal…”

“There’s a lot of nervousness over there right now over this, and what I’ve been doing and my colleagues have been doing is helping the American people understand that his budget spends too much, it taxes too much, and it borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.” (AUDIO)

While the Administration and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill continue their budget campaign, Republicans are prepared to offer a better budget solution – one that will help create jobs, rebuild savings, and restore fiscal sanity. In a web video released last week, Boehner outlined for the President the GOP’s principles for a better budget, including:

- Helping create and protect jobs by letting families and small businesses keep more of what they earn.

- Ensuring the federal budget doesn’t grow faster than family budgets.

- Aiming to expand access to affordable health care for every American, while preserving Social Security and Medicare for future generations.

- Ending the bailouts to protect taxpayers and reforming the financial system so this crisis never repeats itself.

- Encouraging an “all of the above” energy strategy that harnesses new technologies, encourages greater conservation and efficiency, and increases American energy production in an environmentally-safe manner – without imposing a national energy tax.

- Fighting inflation so the prices of goods and services Americans depend on every day remain stable during and after this economic crisis.

The House Budget Committee will consider the President’s budget blueprint tomorrow, and Boehner today announced that Republicans will live-blog the debate on the Republican Leader’s blog, at http://gopleader.gov/Blog. During tomorrow’s debate, Republicans will remind Democrats that the President’s budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much and will offer better solutions for improving the blueprint, strengthening the economy, and creating jobs. Will Washington Democrats give these GOP solutions the consideration they deserve?

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RNC: Tax and Spend Fever

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Republican National Committee:

Today, President Obama Will Host A Health Care Summit:

Today, President Obama Will Host A Summit On Health Care Issues. "On Thursday, Mr. Obama will host a summit on health-care issues where a variety of stakeholders will come together with members of Congress." (Laura Meckler, "Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul," The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/09)

EVEN MORE SPENDING? HIGHER TAXES?

President Obama's Health Care Plan Could Cost More Than $1 Trillion:


Estimates Place The Cost Of President Obama's Health Care Plan At Over $1 Trillion Over The Next Decade. "Estimates put the full cost of Mr. Obama's health plan at more than $1 trillion over 10 years." (Laura Meckler, "Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul," The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/09)

The President Has Been Vague About Funding His Health Care Plan:

President Obama Has Been Vague On How His Health Care Plan Would Be Financed. "Mr. Obama has been vague about how the country's future health-care system should be structured, but he was detailed last week about how to pay for it. He proposed raising $634 billion over 10 years through tax increases on the wealthy and cuts to existing government health-care spending." (Laura Meckler, "Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul," The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/09)

In The Past, Obama Proposed Funding Health Care Reforms By Repealing The Bush Tax Cuts:

Originally, President Obama Said He Would Finance His Health Care Plans By Rolling Back The Bush Tax Cuts. "On his Presidential Transition website, President Obama said he would 'pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level.'" (Jake Tapper, "Read His Lips: New Taxes," ABC News' "Political Punch" Blog, www.abcnews.com, 2/26/09)

But Instead, Democrats Have Already Announced Plans For Billions In New Taxes To Fund Health Care:

President Obama Still Plans On Ending The Bush Tax Cuts; But Instead Of Using Them To Fund Health Care, He Proposed A New Tax. "But as we learned yesterday afternoon, though the President is certainly planning on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire next year -- making the top rate jump from 35% to 39.6% -- the President plans on partially funding the Health Care Reserve fund by raising another, new tax on those families making $250,000 a year, specifically from reducing the itemized deduction rate for families with incomes over $250,000, limiting it to 28 percent." (Jake Tapper, "Read His Lips: New Taxes," ABC News' "Political Punch" Blog, www.abcnews.com, 2/26/09)

President Obama Proposed A $634 Billion Reserve Fund For Health Care, That Experts Believe Will Cost At Least $1 Trillion. "President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion. The 'reserve fund' in the budget proposal being released today is Obama's attempt to demonstrate how the country could extend health insurance to millions more Americans and at the same time begin to control escalating medical bills that threaten the solvency of families, businesses and the government." (Ceci Connolly, "Obama Proposes $634 Billion Fund For Health Care," The Washington Post, 2/26/09)

Democrats Plan To Pay For The Reserve Fund By Capping Tax Deductions, Amounting In A Tax Increase Of More Than $300 Billion. "About half the money for the new fund would come by capping itemized tax deductions for Americans in the top income bracket. The proposal, which administration officials characterize as a 'shared-responsibility issue,' would reduce the value of tax deductions for families earning more than $250,000 by about 20 percent, according to administration documents." (Ceci Connolly, "Obama Proposes $634 Billion Fund For Health Care," The Washington Post, 2/26/09)

Does The Obama Administration Plan On Using An Employer Tax Exclusion To Help Fund Health Care?

There Is Speculation That Democrats Will Propose An Employer Tax Exclusion To Help Fund The Health Care Proposals. "The administration, as John Cohn says, means to leave the rest of the financing question to Congress. But according to both members of Congress and the administration, that ambiguity obscures a specific solution under examination: The employer tax exclusion." (Ezra Klein, "What Obama's Budget Does -- And Doesn't - Say," The American Prospect's "Ezra Klein" Blog, www.prospect.org, 2/22/09)

-- This Is The Same Idea That The Obama Campaign "Brutalized" McCain For
Suggesting. "This is a particularly tricky policy for the Obama
administration to propose because they brutalized John McCain for
suggesting much the same thing. McCain, they said, was planning to tax
employer health care benefits for the first time in history." (Ezra
Klein, "What Obama's Budget Does -- And Doesn't - Say," The American
Prospect's "Ezra Klein" Blog, www.prospect.org, 2/22/09)

Even Other Democrats Are Beginning To Question The Amount Of Debt That President Obama's Health Care Plans Would Bring:

Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA) Suggested Avoiding More Debt Was More Important Right Now Than Providing Universal Health Care. "One Blue Dog Democrat in the House made clear today that he is unlikely to support President Obama's health care reform plans unless it is revenue neutral and does not add long-term debt to the nation's balance sheet. In an appearance on ABC News Now's 'Politics Live,' Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga. ... suggested that avoiding additional debt is a greater priority for the country's economic health than providing universal health care coverage for all Americans." (David Chalian, "Blue Dog To Obama: Health Care Shouldn't Increase Debt," ABC News' "The Note" Blog, www.abcnews.com, 3/2/09)

-- Rep. Marshall: "Increasing Spending Without Coming Up With Revenue
That Matches That Spending Or Cutting Spending Some Place Else Is Just
Not The Direction That We Need To Head In." Marshall: "Frankly all of
us would like to see more Americans have access to health care and
there will be a lot of different arguments concerning the appropriate
plan, but I think there's a larger issue on the table now and I think
the President has a real opportunity to show some leadership with
regard to that issue, and it's the long-term fact that our budget just
isn't sustainable ... Increasing spending without coming up with
revenue that matches that spending or cutting spending some place else
is just not the direction that we need to head in. We've been doing
that too long now. We're addicted to debt, w e ran up debt
unbelievably during the Bush administration years, and I hope the
administration will show some real leadership and head this country
towards a sustainable course in the long run." (David Chalian, "Blue
Dog To Obama: Health Care Shouldn't Increase Debt," ABC News' "The
Note" Blog, www.abcnews.com, 3/2/09)

Democrats Have Already Passed And Proposed Trillions Since President Obama Was Sworn In:

President Obama Proposed Spending Between $3.5 And $4 Trillion In His FY2010 Budget. "Obama's budget overview will call for between $3.5 trillion and $4 trillion in spending in fiscal year 2010 and creates space for up to $750 billion in additional bank bailout funds this year - money that hasn't been requested and the administration hopes will not be necessary to stabilize the still-reeling financial system." (Major Garrett, "Obama's Budget Projects $1.75 Trillion Deficit," FoxNews.com, www.foxnews.com, 2/26/09)

Last Month, President Obama Signed The $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Package. "The $787 billion stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday was a warm-up act, an emergency provision aimed at stimulating a moribund economy." (David Lightman and Margaret Talev, "How Much Government Spending Is Ahead? Stay Tuned," The Miami Herald, 2/20/09)

Last Week, Democrats In The House Passed A $410 Billion Omnibus Spending Bill. "The U.S. House voted to boost spending on domestic programs by 8 percent, ease restrictions on travel to Cuba and kill a school voucher program in Washington, D.C., as part of a $410 billion spending bill." (Brian Faler, "House Approves $410 Billion 'Omnibus' Spending Bill," Bloomberg, 2/25/09)

President Obama Announced A $275 Billion Plan To Stave Off Foreclosures. "After a week dominated by programs that involve spending -- in addition to the stimulus package, the plan to stave off foreclosures could cost taxpayers as much as $275 billion -- Mr. Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to chart the immediate road ahead." (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Obama Pledges To Seek Deficit Cuts," The New York Times, 2/21/09)

WILL A HEALTH CARE PROPOSAL INCLUDE CAMPAIGN PROMISES?

During The Campaign, Obama Proposed An Employer Mandate And Government-Organized Marketplace For Health Insurance:

Obama Proposed A "Government-Organized Marketplace" For Health Insurance. "During his presidential campaign, Mr. Obama proposed a system in which people could buy insurance through a government-organized marketplace, where private plans and a new government-run plan would compete." (Laura Meckler, "Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul," The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/09)

Obama Proposed Forcing Businesses To Cover Their Employees Or Pay Into A Fund. "During his campaign, Mr. Obama proposed that large businesses be required to offer coverage or pay into a fund, while small businesses that offer coverage would get a tax credit." (Laura Meckler, "Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul," The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/09)

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Libertarians Urge Obama to Veto Pork-Ridden Spending Bill

America’s third largest party urged President Barack Obama Tuesday to live up to his promise to “end politics as usual in Washington” and veto a $410 billion spending bill. The legislation includes 8,570 earmarks totaling $7.7 billion, a practice Obama pledged to end as part of his pitch to voters during the 2008 election.

“Republicans already broke their weeks-old promise to stand for fiscal responsibility by fighting to have their own wasteful earmarks included in the bill,” said Libertarian National Committee Communications Director Donny Ferguson. “Will Obama keep his promise to end earmarks by vetoing this bill, or will this be the latest in a long strong of broken Obama promises?”

The White House has indicated Obama will sign the bill, despite his earlier promises to oppose earmarking.

“Republicans are banding together to grab taxpayer cash and Obama is ignoring his own pledge to stop the practice. With Republicans and Democrats working together to continue wasteful spending it’s abundantly clear the Libertarian Party is the only party agreeing with the American people that earmarks must be abolished,” said Ferguson.

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Illinois Legislators Label O'Hare Expansion Plan as Runway to Nowhere, Tell Congress to Reject Federal Funding of Pork Project

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bensenville, Illinois Village President John Geils was in the nation's capital today briefing Members of Congress and their staff on the issues surrounding the flawed O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP). Earlier Thursday, Geils had participated in a press conference sponsored by the taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, where the OMP was identified as potentially the largest taxpayer pork project ever.

"The reason I'm here is to make certain these legislators understand how fundamentally flawed the $20 billion OMP is," said Bensenville Village President John Geils. "Mayor Daley came out here earlier this week touting the OMP as the answer to O'Hare's traffic issues. The truth is OMP is not a valid solution to the delay or congestion issues at O'Hare according to aviation experts and studies conducted over the past several years. What's more, there is no money to pay for the Mayor Daley's pet project, nor should there be."

The OMP has long been criticized and questioned by the six major airlines who service O'Hare Airport. The slumping airline industry, which is making long-lasting cuts in fleets and labor forces, says it is in no position to commit to any more than the initial phase of startup funding for the O'Hare expansion. O'Hare gates leased to United Airlines and American Airlines are already underutilized and the airlines are making more cuts, trimming their schedules by about 15 percent.

"I appreciate the Members of Congress who took the time to meet with our delegation from Bensenville and understand the real issues surrounding the Mayor's expansion plan. Given the Governor's recent impeachment, the indictments of his associates, many in relation to the OMP, certainly casts a shadow of corruption - and Members recognized that," continued Geils. "We came here to tell the truth about OMP, and we did that."

Meanwhile, a federal investigation is under way into how five construction companies whose owners are friends or associates of Mayor Daley secured hundreds of millions of dollars in construction work at O'Hare, according to the Chicago Sun-Times ["Blago probe hits city, O'Hare deals," 12 February 2009]. The probe comes two days after Daley lobbied Congress to secure federal funding for OMP and is linked to a broader investigation of former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The O'Hare Modernization Project has also been denounced for fundamental design flaws, including planes having an additional 45 minute taxi time due to major airport choke points, long rides between terminals - often longer than the scheduled time of a flight - and baggage transfer issues from one terminal to the next. A proposed new terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta has an estimated cost of $500 million, a fraction of the projected $20 billion OMP cost.

www.stop-omp.org is dedicated to stopping the senseless, ill-advised and flawed O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP) and preventing further unnecessary displacement of families and waste of taxpayer dollars. Community leaders, concerned citizens, aviation industry leaders and economic experts continue to urge the FAA to adopt viable alternatives. These include runway configurations proposed by the Chicago air traffic controllers, use of congestion management techniques, reliance on other nearby airports, and construction of a third airport.

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Members of Congress Due to Award Themselves $4,700 Raise in 2009

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Members of Congress are slated to receive a $4,700 pay raise beginning in January, increasing their annual salaries to $174,000. The increase for 535 House and Senate members would cost taxpayers more than $2.5 million.

That salary alone, which excludes all other outside income and spousal wages, ranks each lawmaker in the top six percent of American households.

Congress automatically gets a pay raise each year, and has to introduce legislation to prevent the increase. Although legislation to halt the Congressional raise has been introduced, the most supported bill (H.R. 5087) has just 34 co-sponsors, far short of the 218 necessary for passage.

"As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain," said Daniel O'Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). "This money would be much better spent helping the millions of seniors who are living below the poverty line and struggling to keep their heat on this winter."

According to a Congressional Record Service dated November 26, 2008, lawmakers will receive a 2.8 percent increase in pay next year, from $169,300 to $174,000.

Meanwhile, a senior receiving average benefits will get a $63 monthly increase to just $1,153 per month next year, bringing their annual total to $13,836. An estimated 12 percent of all seniors are living at or below the poverty line, and one-third of all beneficiaries depend on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income.

The Senior Citizens League supports three bills - H.R. 5087, H.R. 5091, and H.R. 6417 - which would prevent the pay raise from automatically going into effect. TSCL encourages its members to contact their Members of Congress and ask them to support those bills.

With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League (www.SeniorsLeague.org) is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. The Senior Citizens League is an affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association.

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WashingtonWatch.com Update: The Auto Bailout, a Retiree Tax Break, and the Blagojevich-Obama Connection

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This is the WashingtonWatch.com federal legislative update for the week of December 15, 2008.

On the WashingtonWatch.com Blog

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's attempt to sell the Senate seat formerly occupied by Barack Obama has captured the headlines. The WashingtonWatch.com blog has an unusual take on it in a post called "The Blagojevich-Obama Connection."

http://tinyurl.com/5e9emv

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide federal support to the "Big Three" automakers.

H.R. 7321, the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act would have provided funding sufficient to cover the costs of up to $14.0 billion in bridge loans or commitments for lines of credit to U.S. auto manufacturers.

The cost of the legislation is a little under $90 per U.S. family. Late in the week last week, it appeared that the Senate would not pass the legislation.

H.R. 7321
The Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act
Costs $87.75 per family
What People Think: 27% For, 73% Against
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_7321.html

Last week, both Houses of Congress passed H.R. 7327, the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. Along with making technical corrections related to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the bill waives required minimum distribution rules for certain retirement plans and accounts.

The tax savings in the bill save the average U.S. family about $30. The bill now goes to the President, who is likely to sign it into law.

H.R. 7327
The Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008
Saves $30.72 per family
What People Think: 57% For, 43% Against
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_7327.html

Displayed below are new, updated, and passed items with their cost or savings per family.

New Items

H.R. 7327
The Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008
Saves $30.72 per family
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_7327.html

H.R. 7321
The Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act
Costs $87.75 per family
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_7321.html

Updated Items

S. 3715
The Auto Industry Emergency Bridge Loan Act
Costs $11.59 per family
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_SN_3715.html

Passed Items

none

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Barr Condemns Newest Bailout

Former Congressman Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nominee, issued a statement condemning the proposed $15-billion bailout of the auto industry apparently nearing approval in the Congress. Barr said “the Faustian bargain” the Big 3 automakers reached with lawmakers “compounds the problem” of the massive bailouts backed by Congress and the Bush Administration, and apparently is structured so as to give the federal government a degree of involvement and control of GM, Ford, and Chrysler that the companies “will live to regret.”

Barr went on to say that while the auto industry has a better case for protection than insurance giant AIG, which already has secured some $85 billion in taxpayer-funded bailout money, the contemplated auto bailout will solve none of the underlying problems facing the industry or the economy. AIG, for example, Barr noted, was the “master of its own demise,” and directly contributed to creating the current economic crisis; the auto companies did not. Other entities also responsible for creating the mortgage crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were also given massive bailouts earlier in the year. It is difficult, given these precedents, to deny others the benefit already granted these other entities, but, Barr noted, we should not put even more taxpayer dollars at risk.

Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the 2008 Libertarian Party Nominee for President.

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