As a result, the Arizona Department of Economic Security will drop at least 1,600 families – including more than 2,700 children – from the state’s federally funded welfare program on July 1, 2016.
The cuts of at least $4 million reflect a prevailing mood among the lawmakers in control in Arizona that welfare, Medicaid and other public assistance programs are crutches that keep the poor from getting back on their feet and achieving their potential.
Arizona state Sen. Kelli Ward, a co-sponsor of the bill, was on “Fox and Friends” to explain the decision. She said that it wasn’t a popular move, but it was a necessary one. (Read more from “Arizona Slashes Welfare Lifetime Limit from 24 Months to 1 Year” HERE)
There is no denying that Conservative Review has been critical of GOP, but today there is good reason to report that House Republican leadership has actually passed a strong spending bill.
On Tuesday, the House passed the annual spending bill (FY 2016) appropriating funds for the legislative branch of government, and they have once again kept the level of spending flat. The bill would appropriate $3.3 billion for the House of Representatives and all of the legislative agencies. When coupled with the Senate’s own budget bill expected to pass later this year, the House bill will bring the total budget for the entire legislative branch of government to roughly $4.3 billion.
Accordingly, the entire cost of the legislative branch of government represents just .001% of total federal spending, projected to top $3.9 trillion next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
It’s important to note this budget is not only paying for the members of Congress and their staff; it includes all of the investigative and research agencies as well as other positions, such as the Capitol Police. Here is a breakdown of the legislative branch’s budget for some key offices:
House of Representatives: $1.81 Billion
Senate: $1 billion
Capitol Police: $369 million
Congressional Budget Office: $47 million
Architect of Capitol: $494 million
Library of Congress: $591 million
Congressional Research Service: $107 million
Government Accountability Office: $522 million
While there is always wasteful spending to root out in any budget, most seem to agree that this is close to the minimum budget required to operate the legislative branch. Which leads to the real salient question: how is it that the most constitutionally grounded branch of government – the one that represents the people – commands just .001% of the federal budget? The Executive Branch dwarfs the legislative branch in spending by a ratio of 907:1. Even the Judiciary Branch has a bigger budget than Congress, at $6.9 billion.
Consider this: the budget for the Department of Agriculture was $141 billion in 2014, which is 33 times the size of the entire legislative branch; the budget for the Department of Education was $59.6 billion, which is 14 times the size of Congress. And remember, the entirety of Article I in the Constitution is dedicated to the legislative branch, while some of these executive departments and agencies are, shall we say, post-constitutional. The Department of Commerce is slated to receive $8.1 billion for the next fiscal year. The DOC was without a cabinet-level secretary at its helm for an entire year (June 2012- June2013) and nobody even noticed. The EPA, which is just an independent agency (not a full department), costs twice as much as the entire legislative branch of government.
There is something wrong with this picture. How can members of Congress ever have the time and resources to properly engage in oversight over this leviathan?
It is no wonder then Congress has abdicated so much authority to the executive branch over the past few decades. The legislative branch lacks the expertise and resources to keep up with the daily unconstitutional power grabs of the executive agencies.
When the executive branch grows so large that the people’s representatives can no longer exercise proper oversight, that in itself is a sign that the recent model of governance has gone off the rails. The only solution is to downsize the scope of the executive branch to its constitutional mandates, freeing up the people’s representatives to focus on the core missions of government. (Read more from “1 Chart Shows Why Congress Can’t Control Government” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:53:402016-04-11 11:00:52This Single Chart Shows Why Congress Can’t Control Government [+video]
Photo Credit: Quartz Ever since privately owned freight railroads were freed by Congress in 1970 from their public service obligation to operate unprofitable intercity passenger trains—a law that created publicly owned Amtrak—a debate has raged in the US over how much passenger rail service is enough, how fast passenger trains should travel, why passenger trains aren’t profitable, and who should provide the subsidy that keeps them afloat.
Amtrak loses money, as do all rail passenger systems across the globe. . .
While government subsidies keep Amtrak trains running, those sums perennially fall short of fully satisfying Amtrak’s capital-investment needs—like the purchase of new locomotives and passenger cars, plus renewal of track, signals, bridges, and stations.
Among some 500 bridges that along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, DC, and Boston—each a century or more old, and requiring extensive rehabilitation—is one spanning New Jersey’s Hackensack River. It needs a $1.5 billion replacement. New tunnels under the Hudson River to replace 115-year-old twin bores come with a $13.5 billion price tag. Another $1.2 billion is required to replace a 142-year-old tunnel under Baltimore. Overhead catenary delivering electricity to trains dates to the 1930s. New safety systems, which might have prevented the Philadelphia fatal derailment and which are nearing completion along the NEC’s entire length, have siphoned substantial, scarce, dollars. . .
The reason money-losing long-distance trains continue to operate is that the economic arguments for eliminating them fails the political test. Once the good folks of a given state or city lose their once-daily, long-distance train, the congressional lawmakers representing those souls are less likely to allocate tax dollars to the NEC, which still needs those subsidies for capital expenditures. (Read more from “Yes, Amtrak Train Was Sabotaged–by Congress” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:53:012016-04-11 11:00:52Yes, Amtrak Train Was Sabotaged – by Congress
Photo Credit: Cliff Owen FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts to keep key parts of the law operating.
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.
The FBI did finally come up with procedures to try to minimize the information it was gathering on nontargets, but it took far too long, Mr. Horowitz said in the 77-page report, which comes just as Congress is trying to decide whether to extend, rewrite or entirely nix Section 215.
Backers say the Patriot Act powers are critical and must be kept intact, particularly with the spread of the threat from terrorists. But opponents have doubted the efficacy of Section 215, particularly when it’s used to justify bulk data collection such as in the case of the National Security Agency’s phone metadata program, revealed in leaks from former government contractor Edward Snowden.
The new report adds ammunition to those opponents, with the inspector general concluding that no major cases have been broken by use of the Patriot Act’s records-snooping provisions. (Read more from “FBI Admits No Major Cases Cracked With Patriot Act Snooping Powers” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:522016-04-11 11:00:52FBI Admits No Major Cases Cracked With Patriot Act Snooping Powers
Photo Credit: Life News Unsurprisingly, Planned Parenthood is proving its grand lack of “Care. No Matter What” for rape and incest victims. Once again, America’s abortion giant is proving that abortion is its front and center priority – not the well-being and rescue of victimized women.
Planned Parenthood claimed the 20-week abortion ban, just passed by the U.S. House:
Forces sexual assault survivors to wait for 48 hours and survivors of incest who are minors must file a police report to qualify for the exception and access safe, legal abortion
Requires survivors (during their mandated 48-hour waiting period) to undergo compulsory, unnecessary medical treatment or counseling in order to access safe, legal abortion — a senseless delay in their access to constitutionally protected care.
But wait? Planned Parenthood claims to “Care. No Matter What.” And yet the organization has the guts to object to the filing of a police report for minors who have survived incest? It boldly calls counseling for rape victims and medical care for injuries sustained in a rape “a senseless delay”? Even abortion supporters should be able to see this as a new low for Planned Parenthood. (Read more from “Planned Parenthood Says Counseling and Medical Care for Women Victimized by Rape Is Senseless” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:312016-04-11 11:00:53Planned Parenthood Says Counseling and Medical Care for Women Victimized by Rape Is Senseless
Billionaire Donald Trump continues to tease a potential presidential run.
Appearing on Fox News Wednesday evening, Trump reiterated he will announce in June what his intentions are in regards to 2016.
“I’m gearing up and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said on “The Kelly File.”
The “Apprentice” star said he wants to make America “great again.”
“I want to make the country great again,” he said. “This country is a hellhole. We are going down fast.” (Read more from “Donald Trump: This Country Is a Hell Hole” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:222016-04-11 11:00:53Donald Trump: “This Country Is a Hell Hole”
Two Texas siblings were tired of being harassed on the school bus, so they turned to the Bible to get the bully to stop.
Phoenix and Kingston Walwyn were being taunted and called names on the ride home from school. Instead of encouraging them to retaliate against the bully, their pastor father suggested they give him a Bible.
“We gave it to him and then two minutes later when it was almost his stop to get off, he just said thank you and sorry for all the bad stuff I did to you,” Phoenix said.
Since that day, there has been no more name-calling or bullying, according to Phoenix and Kingston.
The children’s father, Pastor Vaughaligan Walwyn, said on “Fox and Friends Weekend” that after praying and seeking God, he felt the spirit tell him to get the bully a Bible, let him know that Jesus loves him and invite him to church. (Read more from “Siblings Shut Down School Bus Bully With Bible” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:112016-04-11 11:00:53Siblings Shut Down School Bus Bully With Bible
Photo Credit: PCSOA bank robber in Pinellas County learned the hard way that crime never pays, when his attempted robbery was foiled by a local MMA instructor and business owner.
Eric Haritakis, nicknamed the ‘Ginja Ninja’ by friends for his red hair and swift moves, was at the Grow Financial Federal Credit Union on Friday to make a deposit for his health food delivery company, Zen Body Foods, when a man robbed one of the tellers. . .
Surveillance video from a neighboring UPS Store showed Haritakis sprinting after the suspect. Haritakis chased the man, later identified as 31-year-old Michael Jon Neubecker, around the side of the building.
“I don’t really know what I was thinking at that time. I just kind of went for it. I figured if he had a weapon, he probably would have pulled it out at that point,” Haritakis continued. . .
“I see the guy bringing a guy back with his hands behind his back and almost carrying him,” said Kristin Drexler, an employee at UPS. “I was just amazed at how down-to-earth [Haritakis] was. He was just so nonchalant about the fact that he just chased down a bank robber.” (Read more from “MMA Fighter Captures, Hog-Ties Bank Robber” HERE)
A manhunt is under way after a Hancock County [Mississippi] Sheriff’s Department deputy was saved by his dog from an ambush attack by three men.
The deputy, Todd Frazier, was beaten and cut with a box cutter in Pearlington on Monday, Sheriff Ricky Adam said. If it wasn’t for his K9 partner, a black Belgian Malinois named Lucas, they might have succeeded.
[Deputy Frazier had stopped to check on a car that was parked at a rest stop and was ambushed by three people]
“They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods,” Chief Deputy Don Bass said, adding that authorities believe the attackers meant to drag Frazier into the woods, kill him, and dump his body. . .
“The three of them were dragging him toward the wooded area, and he was able to break one hand free to activate the [remote control] button that opens the door and it released Lucas,” Bass said.
The dog bit at least one, probably two of the suspects, potentially saving the officer’s life. . .”We don’t know how many he got, we just know he had blood all over him,” Adam said. (Read more from “Heroic K-9 Saves Officer From Brutal Roadside Ambush” HERE)
The Chinese navy issued warnings eight times as a U.S. surveillance plane on Wednesday swooped over islands that Beijing is using to extend its zone of influence.
The series of man-made islands and the massive Chinese military build-up on them have alarmed the Pentagon, which is carrying out the surveillance flights in order to make clear the U.S. does not recognize China’s territorial claims. The militarized islands have also alarmed America’s regional allies.
Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell told CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday night that the confrontation indicates there is “absolutely” a risk of the U.S. and China going to war sometime in the future.
A CNN team was given exclusive access to join in the surveillance flights over the contested waters, which the Pentagon allowed for the first time in order to raise awareness about the challenge posed by the islands and the growing U.S. response.
CNN was aboard the P8-A Poseidon, America’s most advanced surveillance and submarine-hunting aircraft, and quickly learned that the Chinese are themselves displeased by the U.S. pushback. (Read more from “China Warns U.S. Surveillance Plane” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:55:582016-04-11 11:00:53“Risk of War”: China Repeatedly Warns U.S. Surveillance Plane Over Artificial Island
