Texas Cut Volunteer Fire Dept. Spending By 75% – According to KVUE (Austin ABC News affiliate) the state of Texas, with Rick Perry as governor, cut funding for volunteer fire departments from thirty million a year to just seven million. Volunteers reportedly make up about 80 percent of the firefighters in the state, and about ninety percent of the first responders for wildfires.
It wasn’t only volunteer fire departments that experienced cuts, however. The Texas Forest Service, also was faced with extensive budget cuts. In May it was reported they might lost $34 million in funding.
Yet the Forest Service is very involved in supporting the volunteer fire departments with training, equipment and grants.
This year in Texas, they reportedly have been over 18,000 fires impacting 3.5 million acres. One source says over 1,600 homes have been lost and over 120,000 acres have experienced fire in the recent situation.
Republican Senator Won’t Even Consider Cuts to Military Spending – Senator Jon Kyl (R–AZ) is the leading Republican Senator on the “Super Committee” charged with making deficit reduction recommendations. The committee has met only ONE TIME and already Sen. Kyl is pitching a fit, threatening to take his toys and go home if any cuts to Pentagon spending are considered by the committee.
Spending on war and the military accounts for 50% of all the money Congress spends. If this super committee can’t tackle military spending, there’s no sensible way for them to reduce the deficit.
Sign the open letter to the other 11 Supercommittee members asking them to ignore Kyl.
Republicans Fail Fact Check of CNN/Tea Party Express Debate – Politifact has the initial scorecard on last night’s debate. Here’s some results:
Rick Perry’s claim about Social Security was rated “False.”
Rick Perry’s claim about the stimulus was rated “Pants on Fire.”
Michele Bachmann’s claim about the health care law was rated “Mostly False.”
Rick Perry’s claim about the HPV vaccine was rated “Mostly False.”
Mitt Romney’s claim about the health care law was rated “Mostly False.”
Herman Cain’s claim about Social Security was rated only “Half True.”
Jon Huntsman’s claim about jobs was rated only “Half True.”
The only statements rated “True” or “Mostly True” was when one Republican criticized another.
Tea Party Audience Cheers Letting the Uninsured Die – The audience Monday night’s CNN Tea Party Express Republican primary debate was eager to see the death of a hypothetical man who was in a coma and also did not have health care insurance.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer posed this question to Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul: “A healthy young, 30-year-old man has a good job, makes a good living but decides, ‘You know what? I’m not going to spend $200 or $300 a month on health insurance because I’m healthy, I don’t need it.’ But something terrible happens, all the sudden he needs it. What’s going to happen if he goes into a coma? Who pays for that?â€
“What he should do is whatever he wants to do,†Paul replied. “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risks. This whole idea that you have to prepare to take care of everybody…â€
“Are you saying society should just let him die?†Blitzer asked.
The audience responded with shouts of “Yes!â€
Last week, an audience at the Republican debate erupted in applause at the mention that Gov. Rick Perry had presided over 234 executions In Florida.
Republican Rep Says not Important for Federal Government to Help Pay Teachers – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) appeared on Morning Joe Monday, and suggested that saving teachers’ jobs was little more than a second wave of unnecessary stimulus
When the California congressman appeared on the MSNBC and was asked about his thoughts on President Obama’s jobs plan, Issa went on the attack, specifically turning his attention towards teachers.
“There are tougher issues,†he said. “Whether or not the federal government borrows money from overseas sources to keep teachers in XYZ state on the payroll seems to be ‘stimulus II.’ It seems to be something that the state’s have to decide what the right number of teachers are, and fund that, and not have us borrow money from overseas.â€
The ‘Big Lies’ About the Economy – Former U.S. Labor Secretary and University of California at Berkeley professor Robert Reich gave the keynote speech at the “Summit for a Fair Economy†held in Minneapolis on Saturday. He discussed the big lies about the economy and what could be done to make the economy work for everyone. Reich shows:
1) Tax cuts to the rich and corporations have never trickled down to the rest of us.
2) Shrinking government kills jobs.
3) The economy grew when the US raised taxes on the rich.
4) If debt is properly used to grow the economy, it becomes a smaller part of the budget because of increased revenue.
5) Social Security is solid for 26 years. It is solid beyond that if the rich would just pay the same percentage in social security taxes as the rest of us do.
6) The poor have no money and taxing them will not provide any measurable income to solve our budget problems.
Republicans Block Fast-Track for Disaster Relief – Republicans blocked an effort Monday by Senate Democrats to quickly pass a $7 billion aid package for victims of recent natural disasters like Hurricane Irene, tornadoes in the Midwest and the South and floods along the Mississippi, Missouri and other rivers. On a 53-to-33 vote, the Senate rejected an effort by Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and majority leader, to bring up a bill that Democrats had hoped to use to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s depleted disaster fund. Democrats needed 60 votes to advance the measure.
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey