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House approves $600 million for border:

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House approves $600 million for border: How will it be spent?
About half the money in the House plan goes toward 1,500 new border personnel. Not in the plan: money for any border fences. President Obama could sign a version of the bill in September.

Los Angeles
Just what does $600 million buy for border security these days – and is it more money the US needs to help tackle illegal immigration?

Billions for a US-Mexico border fence, but is it doing any good?
Janet Napolitano halts funding for virtual border fence
As Senate breaks for recess, House seethes over unfinished business
Half of the funds approved Tuesday by the US House after weeks of political back-and-forth will pay for 1,500 new border agents. Another chunk – nearly $200 million – goes to the Justice Department-supported efforts of the US Marshals and other law enforcement agencies. Two surveillance drones ring up another $32 million.

The payout the House authorized Tuesday is an answer to President Obama's request that more be done to help secure the southern border, but it also represents a shift in strategy – a return to more traditional security techniques for the border.

IN PICTURES: The scene at the US/Mexico border

In March, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano froze funding for a "virtual fence" begun under President Bush in 2006. The string of towers was intended to catch illegal border-crossers using cameras, radar, and ground sensors, but it was "plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines," Secretary Napolitano said. The program had burned through some $2.4 billion between 2005 and 2009.

Border patrol officials expressed frustration at the technology, and wished for more personnel. “We already detect more traffic of illegals than we can apprehend, so we feel the money is better spent putting more boots on the ground than in looking at more technology," National Border Patrol Council president T.J. Bonner told the Monitor in March.

Another border security measure with a high price tag but not many supporters: the 600 miles of fence erected along the border since 2005. A 2009 Government Accountability Office audit found that the fence – still unfinished – had cost $2.4 billion to build, and would require another $6.5 billion to maintain over the next 20 years.

Mr. Obama's answer was to send National Guard troops to the border to bolster intelligence and surveillance in May. At the time, Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) said the troops – and the proposed payout – were appreciated, but “simply not enough.”
by: csmonitor.com

The package approved Tuesday is an addition to this. It funds 1,000 new border patrol agents, 250 customs and border protection officers at points of entry along the border, and 250 special immigration enforcement agents, investigators, and intelligence analysts, Reuters reported. Funding for the package would come from raised visa application fees for certain companies that bring workers to the US.

Vacations and technicalities got in the way of the bill. The appropriations package, which passed easily Tuesday in a voice vote, was held up in Congress for weeks. An identical version of the bill passed the Senate before its summer recess, but had to be sent back to the House because of an arcane law that says appropriations bills must originate there.

Unless the bill is passed on "consent" by party leaders, it must wait until Sept. 13 when the Senate returns from its summer recess before it can be sent to Obama.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0810/House-approves-600-milli...

Is this real? Republican–Tea Party ‘Contract on America’ Revealed

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According to DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan, these Democratic leaders, “will present the American people a handy 10-point blueprint for how the Republican-Tea Party would govern, based on actual positions taken and held by Republican-Tea Party members.” The blueprint includes repealing the health-care law, privatizing or phasing out Social Security, extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, repealing financial reform and abolishing the Education and Energy Departments.

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2010/07/28/republican%E2%80%93tea-party-con...

The L-Curve: Income Distribution of the U.S. David S Chandler

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The income distribution of the United States is far more unequal than most people realize. In fact it is so lopsided, it is hard to represent on a single graph. For more see http://www.lcurve.org.

The US population is represented along the length of the football field, arranged in order of income.

Median US family income (the family at the 50 yard line) is ~$40,000 (a stack of $100 bills 1.6 inches high.)

--The family on the 95 yard line earns about $100,000 per year, a stack of $100 bills about 4 inches high.

--At the 99 yard line the income is about $300,000, a stack of $100 bills about a foot high.

--The curve reaches $1 million (a 40 inch high stack of $100 bills) one foot from the goal line.

--From there it keeps going up...it goes up 50 km (~30 miles) on this scale!

Great Link on Global Population trends

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The human population growth of the last century has been truly phenomenal. It required only 40 years after 1950 for the population to double from 2.5 billion to 5 billion. This doubling time is less than the average human lifetime. The world population passed 6 billion just before the end of the 20th century. Present estimates are for the population to reach 8-12 billion before the end of the 21st century. During each lecture hour, more than 10,000 new people enter the world, a rate of ~3 per second!

Of the 6 billion people, about half live in poverty and at least one fifth are severely undernourished. The rest live out their lives in comparative comfort and health.

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_p...

Let the Bush Tax cuts expire!

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To all my well meaning friends that suggest we keep the Bush tax cuts. To those that think increased taxes are passed to consumers and to those who think that tax cuts to the rich will create jobs, I hope these links help you to understand. The reason our recovery is slow is because business is holding money or investing it overseas

Giving the largest share of a tax cut to rich people who are most likely to save a great deal of it is not a very intelligent thing to do when the economy is struggling to pull out of a recession. The result has been a sputtering and long overdue 'recovery' that has created far fewer jobs than almost any economic recovery in American economic history in spite of the added benefit of historically low interest rates.

by James Kroeger

http://nontrivialpursuits.org/economic_stimulus.htm and then read this:

http://nontrivialpursuits.org/collectivist_schemes.htm

HealthCare.gov - Check it out!

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When you hear about the new health reform law these days, too much talk is focused on the political.

What I've found is that most Americans just want to know how this new law helps their families stay healthy -- and how it reduces their costs.

The first thing I tell people who ask about the Affordable Care Act is that, for moms like me, it makes our lives easier. It gives families control over their own care. And it gives us the comfort of knowing that our insurance will be there when we need it most -- especially if we get sick. Then I tell them that it gets better, but there's a lot to know. To help, this administration has set up HealthCare.gov, where folks can see customized information about how care will improve for their families.

So much of what makes this law great is its emphasis on preventive care -- right now, too many people aren't getting the check-ups or the screenings they need to stay healthy. Twelve percent of kids haven't seen a doctor in the past year. And 59 million adults -- and 11 million children -- depend on an insurance plan that does not cover basic immunizations.

Health reform is changing that. Under this new law, all new private plans will provide basic preventive services -- things like childhood immunizations and checkups, mammograms, colonoscopies, cervical screenings, and treatment for high blood pressure -- absolutely free of charge. No copay. No deductible. No co-insurance needed.

And, on HealthCare.gov, you can not only learn what preventive steps will help keep your family healthy, but also what insurance coverage options are available based on your needs.

A focus on prevention will help us to combat diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure -- chronic illnesses that right now lead to seven of ten deaths in the United States and 75 percent of our national health care costs.

And it will help us tackle an issue that is dear to my heart -- childhood obesity. As some of you know one of my top priorities as First Lady is the Let's Move! campaign, where we have made it our goal to put a stop to the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so children who are born today grow up at a healthy weight.

Each of us needs to take responsibility for our own health and the health of our families, and the new health reform law can help. That's why I'm writing today -- to make sure you and Americans across the country know how their health plans are getting better day by day under reform.

Please visit HealthCare.gov and find out more about your care:

www.healthcare.gov

Thank you,

Michelle Obama

What to watch and What is the Liberal Media

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Back off and look at the corruption on both sides, including Obama. The BS you see on Fox is designed to keep you stupid and divert you from the real problems. If you want to learn something watch Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC at 4 Monday - Friday. Please stop buying into the whole Republican Liberal Media myth. Much of the public believes a useful but unsupportable myth about the so-called liberal media.

http://makethemaccountable.com/myth/LiberalMedia.htm

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2447

I read, WSJ, NYT and Washington Post. I watch Fox, MSNBC and All the Sunday Shows and CBS. I compare, read, and I think FOX is the most slanted network on TV and Radio. In short I believe Fox is watched mostly by the uneducated, the bigoted the uninformed and those who do not want the facts to get in the way of what they believe.

Stop the Oil Leak!

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I have just heard that the Obama Administration has given BP the green light to test the cap on the the oil leak. Lets hope and pray that it works and that this can finally come to an end. The draw back is that it will take years before the Gulf Shores get back to the way they were. I say thank you to whoever in the Obama Administration that gave BP the green light to go ahead. Let's hope it works!

Obama Promises

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Obama has given us progress, change, a direction. I'm asking any Republican or supporter, what are you offering that is better?
Health Care
Financial Reform
Stopping the Oil LEAK!

What you call the Liberal Media tells the true story, do Republicans have an alternative source that has the same respect at FOX or elsewhere?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

Unemployment numbers go down

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I am glad that the unemployment numbers dropped to 9.5%. Although that is not a big drop, it was 9.7%, it shows continued improvement.

This is good in light of the Census workers who lost thier jobs. This could be because of workers that are hired during the Summer months for camps. I almost doubled the number of employees that we have for our Summer Day Camp program.

let's hope this is the beginning of a turn around in our economy. President Obama said this morning that "it is not happening fast enough for the American people."

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Koch Family Money at work in the United States

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Koch Family Foundations
From SourceWatch
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Koch Family Foundations[1] consist of the David H. Koch Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation.

Funding for the foundations comes from the conglomerate Koch Industries, the "nation's largest privately held energy company, with annual revenues of more than $25 billion. ... Koch Industries is now the second largest family-owned business in the U.S., with annual sales of over $20 billion."

"The company is owned by two of the richest men in America," David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch (described as 'reclusive billionaires'), who have a combined personal fortune estimated at more than $3 billion and who have emerged as major Republican contributors in recent years. ... Both David and Charles Koch are ranked among the 50 richest people in the country by 'Forbes'."

The Koch brothers control the three family foundations that have "lavished tens of millions of dollars in the past decade on 'free market' advocacy institutions in and around Washington."[2] --'The Nation', "What Wouldn't Bob Dole Do for Koch Oil?"

The foundations are financed via the oil and gas fortunes of Fred G. Koch, a founding member of the John Birch Society. David is a libertarian who "provides a significant amount of funding for the Cato Institute's $4 million annual budget."

Curtis Moore's Rethinking the Think Tanks (subtitled How industry-funded 'experts' twist the environmental debate) appeared in the September/October 2002 issue of Sierra magazine. Moore states that, "The views will seem to be coming from an independent think tank -- the Cato Institute or Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), for example ... behind these groups stands the [Koch] brother's vast fortune."

In fact, Charles Koch is a co-founder of Cato in 1977 and David helped to launch CSE in 1986. This, says Moore, is the brothers simply following in "dad's footsteps: Fred Koch was a charter member of the ultraconservative John Birch Society in 1958."

Please follow the link and see who they fund. Dig deeper to see al the propaganda web sites they sponsor!
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Family_Foundations

Fox News - It’s really not news — it’s pushing a point of view

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Mr. [Rupert] Murdoch has a talent for making money, and I understand that their programming is geared toward making money.

Why Are Legitimate Journalists Ignoring the Pattern of Race-Baiting on Fox?

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Jon Ponder | Jul. 20, 2010

Megyn Kelly
By now, if you’ve heard nothing else about the New Black Panthers Party voter-intimidation incident, you know that the folks at Fox News are positively in a snit that such a huge, huge scandal is being ignored by what Fox News star Sarah Palin calls the lamestream media.
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2010/07/20/why-is-media-ignoring-race-baiti...

Protecting Barack Obama

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Now it is official. You can say what you want about Fox News, but what the mainstream media and the liberal cable news outlets have done is not responsible journalism. There was a concerted effort to make sure that Barack Obama was sheltered from anything that would harm his chances of becoming the next President. In that way America was sold something they knew very little about. This is surely not fair and balanced. Tucker Carlson, who used to work for CNN and MSNBC and now works for Fox, brought the emails to light because they were listed on the left-leaning site JournoList. Ezra Klein, who created JournoList, has removed the emails. Are you trying to hide something Ezra? No problem we now know what was said.

The problem does not stop there because it is still happening. Recently, the Black Panther and DOJ dropping the charges was not covered by the mainstream media, The Acorn undercover video story was not covered, the story of Van Jones having to step down over his remarks in speeches was not covered by the mainstream media. all of these were not covered because they could be damaging to the President's image. Give me a break! News is just that, news, the good and the bad.

Bob Ellis of the right-leaning Dakota Voice said it best.

"Journalism has an extremely important function in any society. Journalism has the role and ability to bring information about the government “of the people, by the people and for the people” to those people so that they can make informed decisions about what policies and politicians to support.

Unfortunately, the dominant segment of journalism in our country (including ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the LA Times, Associated Press, Newsweek, Time magazine and a host of smaller newspapers across the country) have abdicated their role of providing objective, balanced information coverage to the people, and have embraced an advocacy role to advance a liberal agenda.

This leaves American citizens in the lurch, having to go the extra mile to educate themselves and learn the truth, often having to sift through layer after layer of media-perpetuated propaganda."

This should not be allowed to continue.

Andrew Breitbart you make me sick!

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Shirley Sherrod was wronged.

The Fat Police are coming

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We do not need a Nanny State President Obama! Wanting doctors to report Americans BMI? It seems to me that this goes against the fouteenth amendment, recognizing our fundamental right to privacy, even if it is just children. A childs weight problem should be in the hands of the parents, not the government.

The government also wants to add more taxes to sodas and chips, where does it stop? When they find someone who is overweight are they going to order that person to lose weight?

I am all for losing weight and getting healthy but we do not need the government looking into our medical records and policing what we decide to eat.

Obama cannot blame Bush any longer!

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In this Wallstreet Journal article you will see that President Obama had the chance to take action but chose not to. President Bush cannot be blamed for your choice not to act.

So President Obama you were right in saying that the blame is on you. You need to tell others in your administration this, like David Axelrod who loves to put all the blame on the Bush Administration.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/05/obama-decried-used-bush-drill...

Holder Should be fired!

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A hearing is looking into the voter intimidation claim against the New Black Panter Party during the 2008 election and Eric Holder's decision to drop the charges against all but one of the individuals. I think Eric Holder should be fired for letting the New Black Panthers walk with nothing more then an injuction agaist the one carrying the nightstick at the polling place. This was clearly voter intimidation of the worst kind.

Holder states that there was not enough evidence. They are on camera, you don't need anymore evidence than that! It is this kind of non-transparency and non-action that causes me to lose trust in this Administration. Holder should lose his job!