Republicans Attempting to Cut the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program – One proposal being considered in Congress this week is a $833 million cut from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. (You can find information about WIC at your local grocery.- JLV) If you do the math, this cut is less than the revenue lost from just one week of the tax cuts that were recently extended for millionaires alone. According to a Children’s Health Watch study, economists estimate that “every $1 invested in WIC saves between $1.77 and $3.13 in health-care costs in the first 60 days after an infant’s birth” by reducing the instance of low birth weight babies and improving child immunization rates. And, “The program has the highest rating possible from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool.” Christians who consider themselves pro-life only need to know one thing: It is estimated that the WIC program has saved more than 200,000 babies from dying at birth.
Republicans Vote to Cut Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Security Funds – The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a spending plan that would reduce the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s proposed weapons and nonproliferation accounts by roughly $1 billion in the next budget.
The appropriations blueprint for fiscal 2012 would provide the nuclear agency with $10.6 billion to maintain the country’s atomic arsenal, conduct nonproliferation activities around the world and manage other efforts, including its naval nuclear reactor program and defense environmental cleanup initiatives. NNSA “weapons activities” ensure the safety and reliability of the nation’s stockpile.
That figure is $1.1 billion below President Obama’s initial $11.7 billion budget request for the semiautonomous branch of the Energy Department (see GSN, Feb. 15). The bulk of the reduction originates from the nuclear agency’s nonproliferation and weapons accounts, with respective cuts of $463 million and $498 million.
Democrats, led by Appropriations Water and Energy Development Subcommittee Ranking Member Peter Visclosky (Ind.), sharply criticized the proposed reductions.
“The allocation reduces our ability to counter the most serious threats confronting our national security and that’s the threats of nuclear terrorism,” the Indiana lawmaker said.
“Given the current instability in the Middle East and elsewhere, these programs have never been more important,” added Representative Norman Dicks (Wash.), the full committee’s top Democrat. “I fear that we may not be able to provide the level of national security we need with these funding levels.”
The legislation sent to the House floor in a 26-20 vote, with opposition from all Democrats on the committee and one Republican.
CEO Pay Soars While Workers’ Pay Stalls – Recent figures show that median CEO salaries increased 27 percent in 2010. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows, however, that workers in private industry experienced only a 2.1 percent pay increase last year. Three-quarters of CEOs got raises in 2010 — and, in many cases, the increases were substantial. Also, CEOs received large bonuses in 2010. In addition to a seven percent increase in median salary, CEO bonuses in 2010 were up 47 percent from 2009. The great increase in CEO pay in 2010 is not really indicative of booming profits, but rather reflects the fact that many companies have been cutting costs and laying off workers. With the economy still recovering, unemployment still high, and corporate profits up only 1.5 percent from 2007 rates, these facts are difficult for many struggling workers to hear.
Republican Governor Would Make Anyone Earning Only $6,000 per Year Ineligible for Health Care Assistance – Want to know what happens if the Republican plan to end Medicaid and turn it into a block grant program to be dispersed by each state how it chooses actually happens. You’ll get states like New Jersey, where their governor is currently cutting the eligibility for the program drastically.
Like, to people who make less than $6000 a year.
Yes, apparently if you make at least $118 a week, or more than 25 percent of the federal poverty level, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie believes you should be able to afford your own health insurance, too. This new threshold isn’t just cutting back the number of eligible people a little — it’s literally dropping almost everyone out of the pool. The move is expected to kick over 90,000 residents off of Medicaid.
Rich Getting So Rich That They Need More (and More Expensive) Guard Dogs – Need a further understanding of how bad the economic gap is between the rich and the poor? Meet Julia, the $230,000 “executive protection dog” of Minnesota businessman John Johnson. In perhaps one of the most disgusting sign of our “supply and demand” economy, the prices for guard dogs in the world is skyrocketing because the wealthy have that much more in assets to protect.
So what does Mr. Johnson do that requires him to need so much protection of himself and his estate? Why, he owns a debt collection agency, of course. The amount that the debt collector business owner spent on one of his guard dogs (Johnson says he has six), is the equivalent of what at least 157 Minnesotans will receive in food stamps for one year. That is, if those benefits don’t get cut.
The Problems with the Economy Explained in Less Than 2 Minutes and 15 Seconds – How the rich take money from the middle class, lowered their taxes and caused the deficit, use the money to wield political power, divide the middle class to fight among themselves (worried about who will get the few scraps that the rich leave for the rest of us), and combine all this to give working people an anemic recovery. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said he could explain the problems with the economy in less than 2 minutes, 15 seconds—and he did it (with illustrations to boot). It’s great! Click on the link above.
Boehner Wants to Spend Half a Million Dollars Without Knowing How to Pay for It – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) against House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for violating the Antideficiency Act. In violation of a law designed to stop government officials from overspending appropriations, Speaker Boehner directed the House Office of General Counsel (OGC) to sign a contract to pay an outside firm $500,000 to defend the highly controversial Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“It is ironic that Speaker Boehner — a fierce critic of government overspending — did not hesitate to pledge half a million dollars he does not have to defend a law of dubious constitutionality,†said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “It seems the speaker believes fiscal responsibility starts at home, but not in the House.â€
The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal officials from incurring obligations or making expenditures in excess of amounts available in appropriated funds. Violators are subject to administrative discipline. Knowing and willful violations can be punished by up to two years imprisonment.
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey