Pass it Now! (after vacation)-Muscatine IA-Muscatine

Pelosi: Pass Health Reform So You Can Find Out What’s In It

March 9, 2010

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

It has been said well and famously that politicians only really commit a gaffe when they tell the truth without meaning to. Add House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the list.

Speaking Tuesday to the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties, Pelosi began the windup of her healthcare pitch by alluding to the controversies over the healthcare bill and the process by which it has reached its current state. Then, just after saying, "It's going to be very, very exciting," Pelosi gaffed, telling the local elected officials assembled that Congress "[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it, away from the fog of controversy."

This is the same Nancy Pelosi who, only weeks earlier, was bragging about the transparency of the process that produced the bill that is currently stalled in Congress. The same Pelosi who brushed aside concerns raised by organizations like Let Freedom Ring!--where I am a senior fellow--that members of Congress actually commit to reading the bill before voting for it and that it be posted online for at least 72 hours before any vote so that the American people can read it, too.

In fact, as supporters of the current healthcare bill will no doubt point out, the bill Pelosi and the White House are trying to move to the president's desk passed the Senate at Christmas. It has been on the Web for well over 72 hours; indeed it has been discussed and dissected by healthcare policy experts repeatedly over the last two months. But if that is the case, why is Pelosi telling the National Association of Counties that the bill has to pass before they--and the rest of us "can find out what's in it." What is she hiding?

We are now finding out what she was hiding!!

Toll Roads to Obamaville

Your cost: about $3 million per jobless mile.

"Pass this bill now," President Obama is repeatedly demanding, regarding his new American Jobs Act.

There's nothing new in the legislation, just more government spending, more transfers of money from "the rich" to Obama's political allies, more spending for infrastructure enhancement so we all won't allegedly be buried by collapsing schools and bridges.

And the "rush" tactics are the same. As with Obamacare, there's a proclaimed "crisis," followed by demands to pass legislation "now," even if no one's adequately analyzed the bill, even if no one's read it, even if the legislation will only make things worse, and even if we're already flat broke.

And as with earlier stimulus packages, roads are a particular priority in the American Jobs Act, so much so that you'd think we were all riding around in mud ruts.

I heard a pro-Obama politician say last week that 40 percent of American roads need rebuilt -- not just fixed up with some pothole mix, but completely torn up right down to the dirt and hauled away and made brand new.

We have 4 million miles of roads in the U.S., so 40 percent is 1.6 million miles. The price per mile? It depends on things like hills, water, etc., but a generic cost model by the Department of Transportation in Florida puts the price at $1.5 million per mile for rural two-lane roads, $3 million per mile for rural four-lane roads, and $4 million per mile for urban four-lane roads.

Of course when the politicians get really nuts, they can end up blowing $500 million per mile, as with Pittsburgh's new 1.3 mile under-water tunnel to the city's newly-named North Shore. It was better when the neighborhood was simply called North Side and a bridge got us from one side of the river to the other and the $500 million could have been used for something like cancer research.

In any case, let's figure the 1.6 million miles of allegedly collapsing American roads at $3 million per mile. That's $4,800,000,000,000 -- another $4.8 trillion of red ink, deficit, and debt.

Add that to the $14.7 trillion that we're already in the hole at the federal level (to be exact, $14,717,868,058,346.24 as of the minute I'm typing this sentence), and that averages out to $342,500 in federal debt for each of the 51 percent of American households that still pay federal income taxes.

But the tax burden even among those who still pay taxes doesn't equally average out. Federal income tax figures for 2008, for instance, updated in October 2010, show the top 10 percent of income earners receiving 46 percent of total income and paying 70 percent of total federal income taxes.

By way of connecting the aforementioned trillions to something real, the $14.7 trillion plus $4.8 trillion are equal to 33 percent of the current total net worth of all U.S. households.

In addition to roads, Obama's proposed jobs program includes new spending to rehab "vacant homes." No one in the administration explained why there's a rush to fix up vacant houses during a major housing glut. And no one explained how we're supposed to get more net jobs by increasing taxes on those who are the most capable of investing and creating jobs, real jobs, in order to fund some temporary employment in an ill-timed make-work project.

President Obama said "everything in this bill will be paid for." Over 10 years, he wants $41 billion more in taxes from oil and gas companies, $3 billion more from owners of corporate jets, and $400 billion more from "the rich" (now defined as anyone earning $200,000 or more a year, or any family earning $250,000 or more) by limiting their itemized deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving.

So right when we need a boost to housing, more domestic energy production, and more charitable giving, President Obama wants to enact new disincentives to all three.

Bottom line, Obama is saying we'll get more jobs by way of less oil, less gas, fewer jets, fewer home sales, and lower levels of charitable giving.

hiroad Respected Neighbor The Hilltop 5055 Posts	And remember this from U.S. News and World Report back in 2010?: Pelosi: Pass Health Reform So You Can Find Out What’s In It March 9, 2010 By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog It has been said well and famously that politicians only really commit a gaffe when they tell the truth without meaning to. Add House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the list. Speaking Tuesday to the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties, Pelosi began the windup of her healthcare pitch by alluding to the controversies over the healthcare bill and the process by which it has reached its current state. Then, just after saying, "It's going to be very, very exciting," Pelosi gaffed, telling the local elected officials assembled that Congress "[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it, away from the fog of controversy." This is the same Nancy Pelosi who, only weeks earlier, was bragging about the transparency of the process that produced the bill that is currently stalled in Congress. The same Pelosi who brushed aside concerns raised by organizations like Let Freedom Ring!--where I am a senior fellow--that members of Congress actually commit to reading the bill before voting for it and that it be posted online for at least 72 hours before any vote so that the American people can read it, too. In fact, as supporters of the current healthcare bill will no doubt point out, the bill Pelosi and the White House are trying to move to the president's desk passed the Senate at Christmas. It has been on the Web for well over 72 hours; indeed it has been discussed and dissected by healthcare policy experts repeatedly over the last two months. But if that is the case, why is Pelosi telling the National Association of Counties that the bill has to pass before they--and the rest of us "can find out what's in it." What is she hiding? We are now finding out what she was hiding!! September 20th 2011 Report Reply

hiroad Respected Neighbor The Hilltop 5055 Posts	And back to the Obumbler jobs bill: Toll Roads to Obamaville By Ralph R. Reiland on 9.20.11 @ 6:06AM Your cost: about $3 million per jobless mile. "Pass this bill now," President Obama is repeatedly demanding, regarding his new American Jobs Act. There's nothing new in the legislation, just more government spending, more transfers of money from "the rich" to Obama's political allies, more spending for infrastructure enhancement so we all won't allegedly be buried by collapsing schools and bridges. And the "rush" tactics are the same. As with Obamacare, there's a proclaimed "crisis," followed by demands to pass legislation "now," even if no one's adequately analyzed the bill, even if no one's read it, even if the legislation will only make things worse, and even if we're already flat broke. And as with earlier stimulus packages, roads are a particular priority in the American Jobs Act, so much so that you'd think we were all riding around in mud ruts. I heard a pro-Obama politician say last week that 40 percent of American roads need rebuilt -- not just fixed up with some pothole mix, but completely torn up right down to the dirt and hauled away and made brand new. We have 4 million miles of roads in the U.S., so 40 percent is 1.6 million miles. The price per mile? It depends on things like hills, water, etc., but a generic cost model by the Department of Transportation in Florida puts the price at $1.5 million per mile for rural two-lane roads, $3 million per mile for rural four-lane roads, and $4 million per mile for urban four-lane roads. Of course when the politicians get really nuts, they can end up blowing $500 million per mile, as with Pittsburgh's new 1.3 mile under-water tunnel to the city's newly-named North Shore. It was better when the neighborhood was simply called North Side and a bridge got us from one side of the river to the other and the $500 million could have been used for something like cancer research. In any case, let's figure the 1.6 million miles of allegedly collapsing American roads at $3 million per mile. That's $4,800,000,000,000 -- another $4.8 trillion of red ink, deficit, and debt. Add that to the $14.7 trillion that we're already in the hole at the federal level (to be exact, $14,717,868,058,346.24 as of the minute I'm typing this sentence), and that averages out to $342,500 in federal debt for each of the 51 percent of American households that still pay federal income taxes. But the tax burden even among those who still pay taxes doesn't equally average out. Federal income tax figures for 2008, for instance, updated in October 2010, show the top 10 percent of income earners receiving 46 percent of total income and paying 70 percent of total federal income taxes. By way of connecting the aforementioned trillions to something real, the $14.7 trillion plus $4.8 trillion are equal to 33 percent of the current total net worth of all U.S. households. In addition to roads, Obama's proposed jobs program includes new spending to rehab "vacant homes." No one in the administration explained why there's a rush to fix up vacant houses during a major housing glut. And no one explained how we're supposed to get more net jobs by increasing taxes on those who are the most capable of investing and creating jobs, real jobs, in order to fund some temporary employment in an ill-timed make-work project. President Obama said "everything in this bill will be paid for." Over 10 years, he wants $41 billion more in taxes from oil and gas companies, $3 billion more from owners of corporate jets, and $400 billion more from "the rich" (now defined as anyone earning $200,000 or more a year, or any family earning $250,000 or more) by limiting their itemized deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving. So right when we need a boost to housing, more domestic energy production, and more charitable giving, President Obama wants to enact new disincentives to all three. Bottom line, Obama is saying we'll get more jobs by way of less oil, less gas, fewer jets, fewer home sales, and lower levels of charitable giving. September 20th 2011 Report Reply

Muscatine

Pass it Now! (after vacation)

Pelosi: Pass Health Reform So You Can Find Out What’s In It

Toll Roads to Obamaville

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