Louise Linton Most Stylish Woman

Louise Linton
Scottish Style award Louise Linton ans there most stylish woman and judgeing by thes picture of Louise Linton from maxium who really cares how stylish Louise Linton is she is hot

USS New York - Ship's motto? 'Never Forget'

The USS New York The latest Battleship of the US navy Fleet. What makes this ship special it was built from 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.
on: August 21, 2008, 10:05:20 PM


The USS New York is set to sail from New Orleans to New York City for its Commissioning Ceremony.



The USS New York is a Marine amphibious transport ship with a crew of just over three hundred, capable of transporting up to eight hundred Marines. The New York was built at the Northrop Grumman facility at Avondale, about twelve miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. The New
USS New York Sets Sail for November Commissioning
York's keel was laid on September 10th, 2004 and the ship was officially christened on March 1st, 2008.

The USS New York can sail at up to twenty two knots and is capable of deploying a number of landing vehicles, including air cushioned landing vehicles and expeditionary landing craft, to facilitate assaults on coastlines. The USS New York can also carry a variety of air craft, including Super Stallion helicopters and Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. The New York is armed with two Bushmaster II 30 mm guns fore and aft and two missile launchers fore and aft.

The official commissioning of the USS New York will take place at the Intrepid Museum Pier 88 South on November 7th, 2009. Afterwards the USS New York will be home ported at Norfolk, Virginia.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reve rence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.'

Never Forget

USS New York

Obama health Care

The Problem With Obamas Health Care

The latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report recently reported their findings on the cost of the Senator Ted Kennedy’s health care bill that would cover 16 million of the 46-47 million uninsured. Before going into the nitty-gritty of the report, the uninsured count includes illegal immigrants, those who are eligible for federal programs but have not signed up, and those who have the ability to pay for insurance but choose not to do so.

Back to the costs: The CBO has estimated that $1.3 trillion would be required over 10 years to cover just 16 million of the uninsured. This does not include the public option, the deal that President Barack Obama wants. The reality is that the public option would ultimately lead to a government-run, single-payer health care plan for America.

Based on these numbers, the cost to cover one of the uninsured is $8,125 per person per year. If the estimated population of the United States was put at 307 million, the end cost per year of ObamaCare would be just over $2.49 trillion per year.

Considering that there are over $77 trillion coming in liabilities in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, interest on the debt, and the debt itself, adding this will ultimately break the bank and kill any hope of economic freedom for Americans who will be enslaved by the government to cover the debt either by confiscation taxes on all Americans or by massive hyperinflation.

Congratulations, America. You’ve been had (for electing these weasels in Washington) and now you, your children, and your children's children are going to pay the consequences.
Source:

George Sodini Killer- Pittsburgh gym massacre, George Sodini

George Sodini


George Sodini yet another physco the experts are saying he is likely psychotic now that is keen observation I wonder how much his education cost them to come up with that .

Anybody who would go on a killing spree like George Sodini did for his down falls real or imagined is psychotic.

Three women were killed in the barrage and at least 10 others wounded before Sodini turned the gun on himself, police said.

The Nocturne Jordan Scott

The Nocturne Jordan Scott
Another lawsuit in the making the nocturne jordan scott, jordan scott is a woman by the way the nocturne jordan scott she claims was written the same year as the twilight book, but copyright documents have the twilight copyright was applied for 3 years before.
The Nocturne Jordan Scott another case of you have it I am going to sue you for it

The Nocturne by Jordan scott
Twilight New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight Author Sued for Plagiarism
Movie Twilight New Moon Posted By:

In very shocking news Stephenie Meyer is being sued by the author of 'The Nocturne' Jordan Scott. Apparently Jordan Scott claims that passages in Breaking Dawn are ripped off from his ( I believe it s a him ) book. YahooNews is reporting that the similarities are according to the Authors Lawyer;

* Both Books have a wedding
* Both books have sex on a beach
* Both books have a scene where the character discusses the experience of going from human to a vampire
* Both books have the lead vampire character referring to their wife as 'love'.

I do not know the facts and I have not even read any of the Twilight books but to me this seems a bit of a stretch. The author is apparently not suing for money but is filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in US Court next week. Has anyone read The Nocturne? Thoughts? Comments? I went on Amazon in an effort to learn more about the book but its not for sale on Amazon.

Update: Seems all it took was a copyright search to throw a whole lot of doubt on this lawsuit. The fantastic folks at TwilightLexicon did a copyright search on Forever Dawn ( the books original name ) and Jordan Scott ( who is a SHE not a HE As pointed out by Nicole below ) and guess what was found? Forever Dawn was copyrighted in 2004 and The Nocturne? 2008. Little bit of a date problem for this claim to hold water it would seem.

Baby Glutton Baby Glutton translates from Bebe Gloton Glutton Baby

Baby Glutton
Now a Spanish doll, under the guise of teaching little ones that breastfeeding is normal, is trying to capitalize on lactivism.
Baby Toy
Baby Glutton Baby Glutton translates from Bebe Gloton Glutton Baby the doll similates breast feeding making a sucking noise and when the doll is opulled away it lets out a belch

Baby Glutton Baby Glutton translates from Bebe Gloton Glutton Baby
A Spanish Toy Company Trying to cash in on the breast feeding craze in the US came up with a new doll.

Baby Glutton Baby Glutton translates from Bebe Gloton Glutton Baby the doll similates breast feeding making a sucking noise and when the doll is opulled away it lets out a belch.
Baby Glutton Baby Glutton translates from Bebe Gloton Glutton Baby
There is a mix reaction tho this baby glutton its goal was to inform and make breastfeeding normal but according to some groups making breast feeding seem unnatural and pushes back feminism 150 years MSNBC’s Dr. Nancy.

The Boat Goes First

This is the most amazing thing, imagine if they go to vote? And you thought you had troubles!
Enjoy a laugh.

Letter To The IRS

Dear IRS,



I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April
15, but all is not lost.



I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax,
CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal
income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing
license tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor
tax, luxury tax, Medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up
33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road
usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle
tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal
excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone
minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax,
vehicle license registration tax, capitol gains tax, lease severance
tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado,
Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't
recall but I have run out of space and money.



When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an
honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen
Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Daschle
and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.



P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus
check.



Ed Barnett



Wichita Falls

Obama Budget

Obama Budget remember America is broke we have no money we have to borrow money from countries that do not like us. But we are going to spend more money instead of doing what you or I would do suck it up tighten your belt and save money but with the Obama Budget we are spending money like no time in history.
My View on how the new White House is Doing


President Obama’s new budget blueprint estimates a stunning deficit of $1.75 trillion for the current fiscal year, which began five months ago, then lays out a wrenching change of course as he seeks to finance his own priorities while stanching the flow of red ink.

By redirecting enormous streams of deficit spending toward programs like health care, education and energy, and paying for some of it through taxes on the rich, pollution surcharges, and cuts in such inviolable programs as farm subsidies, the $3.55 trillion spending plan Mr. Obama is undertaking signals a radical change of course that Congress has yet to endorse.

The deficit he inherited, a shortfall of more than $1 trillion as the current fiscal year began, has continued to swell in recent months with additional bank bailouts, the first wave of spending from a newly enacted stimulus plan and the continuing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The administration, as it had announced, will try to cut that amount sharply by 2013, when Mr. Obama’s first term ends, to $533 billion, even as it escalates spending on crucial priorities.

“There are times when you can afford to redecorate your house,” Mr. Obama said on Thursday morning as he released an outline of the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, “and there are times when you have to focus on rebuilding its foundation.”

His administration will attempt to close the large fiscal gap even while starting a major health-care initiative intended to substantially extend coverage; to do so, it foresees increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and using revenue from a new program: selling carbon credits to manufacturers as part of a cap-and-trade plan meant to slow climate change.

Further savings would come from such items as a proposal to phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000. Additional revenues are posited from a tightening of tax-code enforcement.

"Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that will take a long time for us to close, we need to focus on what we need to move the economy forward, not on what’s nice to have," Mr. Obama said. The budget plan projects the deficit falling to $1.17 trillion in 2010 and down to Mr. Obama’s goal of $533 billion in 2013, then increasing again to $712 billion by 2019. Mr. Obama takes credit for $2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years, three quarters of which comes from lower expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan and most of the rest from tax increases on the wealthy and revenues from a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

The forecasts are also founded on optimistic assumptions that the recession will end by next year and quickly produce stronger growth than was seen in the last decade. After the economy shrinks this year, the Obama team assumes that the gross domestic product adjusted for inflation will increase by 3.2 percent next year and then 4 percent or more the following three years, a rate nearly twice the average of the Bush years.

The budget projects slightly lower spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to $130 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, then a much larger drop beginning in fiscal 2011, when Mr. Obama wants to have combat forces out of Iraq. The basic military budget in 2010 would be $534 billion in 2010.

Mr. Obama promised to include the full costs of the wars in all his budgets, saying that because of “dishonest accounting” past budgets have “not told the whole truth about how precious tax dollars are spent. Large sums have been left off the books, including the true cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The deficit, which at 12.3 percent of gross domestic product is expected to touch its highest level since 1945, could grow this year if the economy worsens significantly and a new infusion of capital into distressed banks is ordered; the administration has estimated that this might call for adding $250 billion to the cost of the bailout already approved by Congress.

"No part of my budget will be free from scrutiny or untouched by reform," Mr. Obama said, in a nod to critics who have suggested that the economic rescue package includes runaway waste.

"I don’t think that we can continue on our current course," he added.

Republicans quickly signaled deep skepticism about President Obama’s approach. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, said Democrats should not “spend imaginary money” or increase taxes at a difficult moment.

“It is not just misguided but dangerous to raise taxes on small businesses and families that can’t afford to pay them,” Mr. Cantor said. “In fact, a majority of those penalized by the proposed tax increase in this budget are small businesses.”

The new proposal for the coming fiscal year and beyond includes many ambitious and costly programs that would have to be approved by Congress, including some that Republicans and fiscal hawks are likely to oppose.

The tax proposal to help pay for health care, coming after recent years in which wealth has become more concentrated at the top of the income scale, introduces a politically volatile edge to the Congressional debate over Mr. Obama’s domestic priorities.

The president also proposed, in the 10-year budget outline he released Thursday, to use revenues from the centerpiece of his environmental policy — a plan under which companies must buy permits to exceed pollution emission caps — to pay for an extension of a two-year tax credit that benefits low-wage and middle-income people.

The combined effect of the two revenue-raising proposals, on top of Mr. Obama’s existing plan to roll back the Bush-era income tax reductions on households with income exceeding $250,000 a year, would be a pronounced move to redistribute wealth by reimposing a larger share of the tax burden on corporations and the most affluent taxpayers.

Universal health care is worth that price, Mr. Obama said.

"We must make it a priority to give every single American quality, affordable health care," he said. "With this budget we are making a historic commit to comprehensive health-care reform."

The officials said the increase in revenues, estimated at $318 billion over 10 years, would account for about half of a $634 billion “reserve fund” that Mr. Obama will set aside in his budget to address changes in the health care system. The other half would come from proposed cost savings in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs.

In a document summarizing its proposals, the White House said it would finance coverage for the uninsured in part by “rebalancing the tax code so that the wealthiest pay more.”

To narrow the deficits, the president proposed $636.7 billion in tax increases on the wealthy over the next 10 years, largely by reversing tax cuts passed by President George W. Bush on taxpayers who make $200,000 or more, or $250,000 for married couples. The top income tax bracket would return to 39.6 percent from 36 percent and capital gains and dividends for those over the income limits would be taxed at 20 percent.

The White House also proposed tax provisions that would raise $353.5 billion over 10 years by repealing credits and reductions for oil and gas companies, toughening tax collections and other changes in tax law.

On the other side of the ledger, Mr. Obama would cut taxes for lower- and middle-class Americans by $770.1 billion over 10 years and for businesses by $149.4 billion.

Among the most challenging areas for reducing spending are in the Pentagon’s accounts, which have been running at record levels as the wars continue, the military expands, and the costs of building new weapons escalates.

While the budget outline requests a small increase in basic military spending, the Obama administration has made it clear that it intends to shift some of the money from huge cold war-style weapons systems to smaller programs focused on fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and new threats to the nation’s cybersecurity.

Internal debate over which programs to cut is still so intense that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has taken the unusual step of requiring even the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to sign agreements not to leak the details. But some clues have emerged, and military consultants say it seems clear that expensive missile defense systems and parts of the Army’s vast modernization effort will be cut back. Some also say that plans for a new Navy destroyer are likely to be scrapped.

In the short term, the White House said it would ask Congress in coming weeks for another $75.5 billion for the wars on top of the $65.9 billion already approved to get through the rest of the current fiscal year. It builds $130 billion in expenses for the wars into the 2010 fiscal plan but keeps it separate from the base Pentagon budget.

Beyond the assumption that cost of the wars fall over the next decade, the budget blueprint outlines few cuts in big-ticket spending. The most significant involve paring agricultural subsidies for wealthier farmers and eliminating intermediary costs for student loan programs. The blueprint also projects $316 billion in savings over 10 years from increasing efficiency and competitive bidding in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Few individual departments, though, will see their budgets actually go down in 2010. Just 3 of the 15 cabinet departments will be cut from 2009 to 2010 — Energy, Health and Human Services and Justice. But energy and health are also getting huge infusions of money from the $787 billion economic recovery legislation just signed into law.

The State Department gets the biggest increase, rising from $36.7 billion this year to $51.7 billion next year, although Mr. Obama will not be able to keep his promise to double foreign aid.

The Obama budget promises a comprehensive effort to address global warming, slash oil imports and create a new “green” economy that produces millions of new jobs. The White House estimates that the effort, built around a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gas emissions, will produce $150 billion over 10 years beginning in 2012 to finance renewable energy projects and potentially hundreds of billions of dollars more that will be returned to families, communities and businesses that suffer hardship as the result of higher energy prices.

However, Congress is in the early stages of debating global warming legislation program, and any revenue from it is still largely speculative.

The Department of Energywill have much more to spend, thanks in part to money from the stimulus package for research, weatherization programs and modernization of the electric grid this year and beyond. Also included in the current year are several billion dollars in aid for American automakers to design and build high-mileage cars. The Department of Interior budget grows slowly, with new money for park maintenance, endangered species protection and renewable energy projects.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, the budget projects a 34 percent spending increase for 2010, with much of the money devoted to clean water projects, a Great Lakes restoration program and across-the-board increases for regulation, research and enforcement.

Because utilities and other businesses would presumably pass on the costs of carbon payments to customers, Mr. Obama will propose to use most of the revenue from the greenhouse gas emission permits to finance an extension of the new “Making Work Pay” tax credit beyond the two years covered in the economic recovery plan.

That tax relief, the administration will argue, will offset households’ higher costs for utilities and other products and services from businesses’ passing on their permit expenses.

That tax credit will annually provide $400 to low-wage and middle-income workers or $800 to couples; Mr. Obama would like to increase those figures to $500 and $1,000. The credit phases out for those with incomes above $75,000 a year and for couples with incomes of more than $150,000; no benefit would go to individuals with more than $100,000 income and couples with $200,000.

The tax credit will begin showing up in the form of lower withholding for eligible workers beginning April 1.

The remainder of the projected revenue from the permits will finance Mr. Obama’s campaign promise to provide $15 billion a year over 10 years to subsidize research and development of alternative energy sources, officials said. The stimulus package included a multibillion-dollar down payment to develop a national electricity grid to harness and distribute energy from such sources, including wind farms.

Behind the numbers in Mr. Obama’s first budget is one of the most far-reaching domestic agendas in years, and at a time when the president and Congress are already grappling with an economic crisis worse than any in decades. The environmental permits would not take effect until 2012, at which point the administration expects the economy to have recovered. Similarly, some of the tax increases would not take effect until 2011.
white house budget, obama s budget, obama 2010 budget, us budget, omb

Source:NYT

Obama Speech To Congress Stocks Retreat

Stocks Retreat After Obama Speech To Congress
Evelyn Rusli, 02.25.09, 11:30 AM EST
This is a transcript of the Market Update: Midday video report.

Stocks retreated on Wednesday, with the Street looking for direction from Washington. President Obama's Tuesday night Obama Speech To Congress failed to move the needle on Wall Street; meanwhile, investors are watching Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's meeting with the House Financial Services Committee.

Regulators are expected to begin stress tests of the nation's major banks to determine how much capital, if any, they need.

The housing sector digested yet another disappointing report. Existing-home sales fell 5.3% to 4.49 million, coming in below economists' expectations.

American International Group (nyse: AIG - news - people ) may have lost a suitor for its $20 billion Asian life-insurance unit. According to reports, U.K. firm Prudential is unlikely to make a bid by Friday's deadline, leaving Manulife and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings in the running.

Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) is also said to be mulling a sale of a key Asian asset, its Japanese bank, Nikko Citigroup. The firm has already put the Nikko Cordial brokerage unit up for sale, but now reports suggest it may bundle both units to raise even more cash. Obama Speech To Congress

On the earnings docket, it appears the cash-strapped consumer may be avoiding pricier meals for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Jam-maker J.M. Smucker (nyse: SJM - news - people ) said profits were up 84% in its third quarter. Even so, the Ohio-based company lowered its 2009 guidance because of higher costs and lower demand for peanut butter following a product recall.

Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group (nyse: ABK - news - people ) recorded a $2.3 billion fourth-quarter loss Wednesday, after setting aside more than $1 billion for mortgage losses.
Source:Forbes

Rick Santelli and the "Rant of the Year"

Rick Santelli of CNBC tells it like it is about the Stimulus Package rewarding bad behavior.

If you pay your bills on time and act responsible toward your income and do everything right you do not get any money. But if you overreach and spend more then you make then you will get some money. That is how we got into this mess in the first place.

Obama Foreclosure

Obama Foreclosure

Obama's foreclosure fix on the way
The president is set Wednesday to unveil plans to stem foreclosures and stabilize housing. Loan modifications and help for those near default are expected.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Obama administration officials are hammering out the details of a $50 billion foreclosure prevention program that the president is set to unveil Wednesday in Arizona, sources said.

Details remain scarce, but officials are looking to help homeowners who are in danger of defaulting on their mortgages, as well as those already behind, according to sources close to the discussions. Until now, most government and industry efforts have centered only on the delinquent.

The administration is under intense pressure to find a solution to the housing crisis, which many experts say is crucial to reviving the overall economy. More than a million homes are already in foreclosure, and more than 2 million more are expected to succumb this year. Obama has long promised that his fix will go beyond the steps taken by his predecessor.

The multipart plan will for the first time commit government money to spur loan modifications. One likely component will be interest-rate subsidies for at-risk borrowers, with the government matching the servicer's rate reduction. Borrowers would have to take an affordability test to see whether they could handle the monthly payment on the reworked loan.

"Our focus will be on using the full resources of the government to help bring down mortgage payments and to reduce mortgage interest rates," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said last week as he announced the administration's financial stability plan.

The administration is also expected to ramp up loan modifications of borrowers in default. These modifications would lower monthly payments to more affordable terms - often 31% to 38% of gross monthly income - through reducing interest rates or lengthening the loan's term.

Several mortgage servicers, as well as mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, already have implemented loan modification programs with mixed success. The administration would likely require all banks receiving bailout money to implement such plans.

While the administration has not said much so far, industry executives and housing advocates are hoping Wednesday's announcement will contain a detailed and comprehensive fix for the foreclosure crisis. Geithner came under heavy fire last week for unveiling few specifics in the long-awaited financial stability plan, the successor to the Bush administration's $700 billion financial industry bailout.
Source:CNN

Temporary Credit For Home Buyers

Temporary Credit For Home Buyers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Now it's time to make a deal on economic stimulus: Key members of the Senate and House are in talks to craft a final bill. They hope to reach an agreement ASAP.

Whatever they come up with, there's a good chance it will closely resemble the version passed Tuesday by the Senate.

The Senate provisions carry more weight because the Senate, unlike the House, cannot pass a final package without the support of a few Republicans. Only three Republicans voted for the Senate bill. Should the final package's cost or contents be substantially different, those Republican votes could be lost.

So using the Senate as a guide, we took a look at what the financial rescue package might mean for you.

Here's a rundown of many of the measures that would benefit individuals directly. It's likely that many, if not all, of these measures will make it into the final package. CNNMoney.com will update this list as negotiators hammer out a final deal.

Make Work Pay Credit: The bill provides a $500 credit per worker and a $1,000 credit per dual-earner couple. The full credit would be paid to people making $70,000 or less ($140,000 per dual-earner couple). It would also be refundable, which means that even very low-income families who don't make enough to owe income tax would be able to claim it. Estimated cost: $139.4 billion.

One-time payments to those who don't work: For seniors who don't work, as well as disabled veterans and retired railroad workers, the bill provides a one-time $300 payment. Estimated cost: $17 billion.

Break for higher income families: The bill includes a one-year provision to protect middle- and upper-middle-income families from having to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT was intended primarily for high-income taxpayers but has in recent years threatened to engulf those lower down the income scale. Estimated cost: $70 billion.

Temporary credit for car buyers: The bill would let those who buy a car in 2009 deduct the interest they pay on their car loan as well as the sales tax charged in the purchase. The full deduction would be available to those earning less than $125,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). Estimated cost: $11 billion.

Temporary credit for home buyers: The bill doubles the size of an existing temporary home buyer credit to $15,000. It also would allow all home buyers to claim it. And it removes the requirement under current law that the credit be paid back. Estimated cost: $39 billion.

New college credit: The bill introduces the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a $2,500 credit for higher education expenses. The full credit would be available to those making less than $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers). Estimated cost: $10.3 billion.

Pell Grants: The bill increases the maximum Pell Grant by $281 in the 2009-10 academic year and by $400 in the 2010-11 academic year. Estimated cost: $14 billion.

Child care credit: The bill increases eligibility for the child care tax credit by lowering the income threshold that must be met to $8,100. That will allow lower income families to claim more of the credit. Estimated cost: $7.2 billion.

Earned income tax credit: The credit will be temporarily increased from 40% to 45% of qualifying earnings for low-income families with three or more children. It also includes a marriage penalty relief provision for couples who qualify for at least a portion of the credit. Estimated cost: $4.6 billion.
Direct lifeline benefits

Health insurance help for the jobless: The bill includes provisions to help eligible jobless workers pay for health insurance under Cobra. Cobra coverage allows newly laid off workers to keep health insurance provided by their former employers for a period of time.

One of the provisions offers a government subsidy -- 50% of premiums for 12 months -- to help out-of-work Americans pay for healthcare. Estimated cost: $20 billion.

Another provides states funding to help pay for expanded Medicaid rolls for workers who've lost their jobs and can't afford health care on their own or can't get Cobra coverage because their former employer doesn't offer a health care plan. Estimated cost: $87 billion.

Unemployment benefits: The bill provides jobless workers with an additional 20 weeks in unemployment benefits, and 13 weeks on top of that if they live in what's deemed a high unemployment state, of which there are about 30 currently. Estimated cost: $27 billion.

In addition, the weekly unemployment benefit will temporarily increase by $25 on top of the roughly $300 jobless workers currently receive. Estimated cost: $8.8 billion

Plus, the first $2,400 of benefits in 2009 would be exempt from federal income taxes. Estimated cost: $4.7 billion.

Also included in the bill is an incentive for states to provide unemployment insurance coverage for part-time workers and for workers who quit their jobs for compelling family reasons. Estimated cost: up to $2.6 billion.

Food stamp payments: The bill includes a provision would increase food stamp payments by 12%, so a family of four would see an additional $71 on top of the $588 per month they receive currently. Estimated cost: $16.5 billion.

Help for needy families: The bill provides $2.3 billion to states to create a contingency fund through 2010 for the welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides cash assistance to the needy. Estimated cost: $2.3 billion.

Temporary Credit For Home Buyers Source:CNN

Americans for Prosperity Railing Against President Obama with No Stimulus Plan

This is not change this is an outrage, this is politics as usual and obama says the republicans are playing games "politics as usal". Why are the republicans playing they are not they are trying to stop a bill that will tax generations to come.

According to obama if you do not pass this bill then you are playing the usal politics and I will go on TV and tell the US that you are keeping them out of work and use scare tactics to pass a bill.

Americans For Prosperity is a Washington D.C. based political advocacy group that runs with the slogan that they are
Organization 'Americans for Prosperity' Railing Against President Obama with 'No Stimulus' Plan
Prosperity) is currently waging a battle of words against President Obama's new economic stimulus package, finding fault with a lot of the wording an allocation of funds. The AFP has started up a "No stimulus" petition, all with the idea of shedding more light on the stimulus bill itself.

There are some key issues that have the AFP railing against this new stimulus package, and at the forefront is their belief that this is just throwing too much money after a bad idea. While they do feel that the U.S. Government needs to step up and do something, a stimulus package spending anywhere from $750 to $900 billion in this fashion is not the way to go in their opinion. The plan seems wasteful in their eyes. The AFP also doesn't agree with a lot of the additions to the stimulus bill that have taken the focus away from what is going on in the economy and has begun to look like another bail-out for mismanaged funds.

Another reason why the Americans for Prosperity are against this stimulus package is that more of the money needs to actually be going into the pockets of Americans. Rather than supporting different entities within the stimulus bill that can support agencies of departments that are already funded by the Government, the AFP would rather see Americans directly getting the cash. By putting more of the stimulus money directly in the hands of tax-payers, it could really step up the value of such a bill.

In order to get their message across, the Americans for Prosperity has even built a web-site called NoStimulus.com where people can sign a petition to show that they oppose the big Government spending that could take place in the new economic stimulus package. One of the big things that the AFP is pressing, is that it isn't too late to put down this stimulus package, and that it can still be fixed to actually help people. In its current form though, the AFP is strongly against the economic stimulus bill.

Soource"AC"

Nancy Killefer

Nancy Killefer
Director, McKinsey & Company

Nancy Killefer is a senior director in the Washington, D.C. office of McKinsey & Company, Inc. Nancy Killefer is a leader of McKinsey’s Public Sector Practice, specializing in developing strategies and improving organizational effectiveness for a wide range of government clients.

Nancy joined McKinsey in 1979 and during her career has focused on strategy, marketing, and organizational effectiveness and efficiency issues with an emphasis on consumer-based and retail industries.

From 1997 to 2000, Nancy Killefer served as Assistant Secretary for Management, CFO, and COO at the United States Department of the Treasury. In addition to overall management responsibilities for Treasury’s 14 bureaus and 160,000 people, she led a major modernization at the Internal Revenue Service, prepared Treasury’s systems for Y2K, and reshaped management processes, including installing an asset management program across the Treasury Department.

After returning to McKinsey in 2000, she joined the IRS Oversight Board, a public-private entity akin to a corporate board that oversees its IRS. She served there from 2000 to 2005 and was its Chairperson from 2002 to 2004.

Nancy Killefer received her M.B.A. from the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds a B.A. with honors in economics from Vassar College. Prior to business school Nancy worked as an associate at Charles River Associates, a microeconomics consulting firm.source
Nancy Killefer, Nancy Killefer bio,Nancy Killefer Chief Performance Officer

Obama Announces Nancy Killefer Chief Performance Officer

Obama announces Nancy Killefer Chief Performance Officer
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama, who faces trillion-dollar government deficits stretching into coming years, named on Wednesday a former Treasury official as the first U.S. "chief performance officer" to oversee budget and spending reform.

Nancy Killefer, a director at McKinsey & Company and a former assistant Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, will work with economic officials to increase efficiencies and eliminate waste in government spending.

"We can no longer afford to sustain the old ways when we know there are new and more efficient ways of getting the job done," Obama told a news conference just hours after new official projections put the fiscal 2009 U.S. budget deficit at a record $1.186 trillion.

"Even in good times, Washington can't afford to continue these bad practices. In bad times, it's absolutely imperative that Washington stop them," Obama said.

Obama has repeatedly promised that his administration will go "line by line" over its budgets -- a task that will now fall to Killefer and Obama's nominee to as White House budget chief Peter Orszag.

Obama, who takes over from President George W. Bush on Jan 20, is seeking quick action from Congress on a package of spending and tax-cut measures that would total nearly $775 billion over next two years, which could add to the deficit hole. (Editing by Jackie Frank) source