Facebook group forms to stop HR 1388; massive expansions in volunteerism bills

The new group Stop HR 1388 has formed at Facebook for the purpose of derailing HR 1388 as it heads to the US Senate after marching its large body through the House of Representatives. The bill is a massive social program that many libertarians and conservatives believe will not only once again contradict the U.S. Constitution, but also create yet another expensive, ineffective program at a time when taxpayers are levying heavy criticism at administrations past and present. The bill makes bloated social programs of the past look stick thin. Hundreds of people have signed up; the group was formed one day ago... (click link to read the rest of the article)

U.S. Report: http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-report/facebook-group-forms-to-stop-hr-1388-massive-expansions-in-v.html

Atlas Shrugs: House Passes Mandatory National Service Bill

The brownshirt corp. Do people know this is even happening? Call your Senators, seriously.

House Passes Mandatory National Service Bill Infowars (hat tip Joan)

The House passed a bill yesterday which includes disturbing language indicating young people will be forced to undertake mandatory national service programs as fears about President Barack Obama’s promised “civilian national security force” intensify.

The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act, was passed yesterday by a 321-105 margin and now goes to the Senate.

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate, “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”

http://ow.ly/18DM If that link doesn't work, try this one: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/03/house-passes-mandatory-national-service-bill.html

House Schedule for Tuesday

Now that I'm getting daily updates on the House schedule, I can't help but wonder what happens after they enact some of this stuff. I can't imagine that once some of these bills are passed and become law that many, if any, who voted on them ever know what happens afterward.

The volume of stuff going through is amazing. Can you imagine what would happen if all of a sudden everyone from the top down started doing half the things that are enacted way up on the lofty D.C. grounds? We hear it all the time in regards to things like illegal immigrants --- if we followed the letter of the law we wouldn't need new laws or bills or acts. It seems to me that a lot of the bills aren't worth the paper they're printed on (assuming anything is printed these days ;-).

There are a couple on this list I'm going to look up - Reducing Over-Classification Act? Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act? Not sure what the National Bombing Prevention Act is either...

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009:
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for Morning Hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Unlimited One Minutes per side. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Suspensions (7 Bills)
1) H.R. 748 - Campus Safety Act of 2009 (Rep. Scott (VA) – Judiciary)
2) H.R. 738 - Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2009 (Rep. Scott (VA) – Judiciary)
3) H.Res. 82 - Raising Awareness and Encouraging Prevention of Stalking by Establishing January 2009 as National Stalking Awareness Month (Rep. Poe – Judiciary)
4) H.Res. __ - Supporting the goals and ideals of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week’ (Rep. Lewis (GA) – Judiciary)
5) H.R. 553 - Reducing Over-Classification Act (Rep. Harman – Homeland Security)
6) H.R. 559 - Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act (Rep. Clarke – Homeland Security)
7) H.R. 549 - National Bombing Prevention Act (Rep. King (NY) – Homeland Security)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4; THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5; FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009:
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business.
On Thursday, no votes are expected in the House.
On Friday, no votes are expected in the House.

S. 352 – The DTV Delay Act (Sen. Rockefeller – Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule)

Senate Amendment to H.R. 2 – The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (Rep. Pallone – Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule)

* Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
* Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
* Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

Questions and Concers Re: Commission Considering Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Tomorrow night, Wednesday Jan. 14th, the Fayette County Commission is holding a special public hearing on the "Neighborhood Stabilization Program". I hope that at least a few of our concerned citizens will take the time to go to the meeting and ask questions.

Here's an overview of the program:

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) is an emergency assistance fund
authorized under Title III of Division B, section 2301 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) that is being provided for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes and residential properties for the purpose of stabilizing neighborhoods. Unless HERA provides otherwise, the grant is considered a special Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocation.

Sounds OK, doesn't it? Basically, the government is going to give Fayette County funds to redevelop abandoned or foreclosed homes.

Unfortunately, long experience has told me that with the government, there's usually a nasty string or two attached, so I pulled up the six-page "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" that deals with the NSP.

There is at least one potential nasty string that's attached to the NSP: Not less than 25% of funds available to each grantee must be used for housing activities that benefit individuals whose incomes do not exceed 50% of area median income and that all funds be used to benefit individuals at or below 120% of area median income."

Click here to read the Guide to Neighborhood Stabilization Program Eligible Uses

If I'm understanding what I'm reading correctly, the government is going to require that at least 25% of the foreclosed or abandoned homes be sold or rented to people who make less than 50% of the median income of their neighbors.

Call me crazy, but isn't that how we got into this mess with foreclosed homes to begin with? People who couldn't afford to buy the houses they wanted got great deals, then couldn't make the payments?

I can understand the 120% requirement. The government doesn't want speculators and investors to buy up all these great deals just so they can flip them and make money.

In addition to my concern about potentially putting people into houses they can't afford, I don't particularly care for the idea of having our government sticking its fingers into forcing upward mobility. I don't know what my neighbors make and don't want to know. Maybe they bought down, maybe they opted to buy less house so they could spend more on vacations. Who knows and who cares.

Here's a hypothetical situation: Say there's a house in Whitewater or a similar neighborhood that I covet. If I could figure out a way to buy it, I'd be there in a heartbeat. However, for the sake of argument, let's say my income is 40% of the median income of the neighborhood. Then, continuing the scenario, "my house" goes into foreclosure and all of a sudden I can buy the house with the help of the NSP. Wow. Great deal, huh?

But then I have to buy furniture. I have a huge power bill. I have neighborhood dues I have to pay. The pipes freeze and burst. The hot water heater goes out. I have to pay for lawn service because I'm working and can't keep up the grooming. The lake behind the house overflows into the yard ruining the landscaping. You get the idea, it's more house than I might could afford, even though the monthly payment is well within my ability to pay.

Pretty soon I'm wondering how I got myself into this mess.

I don't know enough about the details of the program, even after reading the Act and looking at other counties and states who've grabbed the funds. I'm not sure that someone who couldn't afford neighborhood dues, insurance, lawn service, etc. as I hypothesized above would be allowed to buy the home.

And, I don't know what will happen when Fayette County takes the money, if they ultimately decide to do so. I "assume" that since they're holding the public hearing tomorrow night, they've pretty much decided to go for it.

In past years Fayette County has stayed away from holding their hand out to the government. We've been very, very selective about the programs we've bought into. I hope we're not looking at short-term gain to the detriment of the long-term quality of our county.

Links:
The HUD Official Documentation: Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
Minnesota's explanation / write up: http://www.mnhousing.gov/idc/groups/homes/documents/webcontent/mhfa_007646.pdf

PUBLIC NOTICE FOR A SPECIAL CALLED PUBLIC HEARING
THE FAYETTE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WILL HOLD A SPECIAL CALLED PUBLIC HEARING AT 7 PM ON JANUARY 14th, 2009, IN THE PUBLIC MEETING ROOM OF THE FAYETTE COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLEX LOCATED AT 140 STONEWALL AVENUE WEST, IN FAYETTEVILLE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS HEARING IS TO RECEIVE COMMENTS REGARDING THE NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM (TITLE III, SECTION 2301 OF THE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT OF 2008 (HERA).

Fairness?

A number of people have sent me the article below today regarding Nancy Pelosi's attempts to ensure there is no balance in the House. I'll let you read the article to get the full details, but it's another scary happening in the works that has me wondering even more about the future of our country.

I listened recently to Rep. Steny Hoyer answering questions on a talk show. One of the questions dealt with the Union bill which will do away with secret ballots (Employee Free Choice Act). He's all for it and expects it to come up --- and pass --- this year. If you're unfamiliar, it's a bill that will basically take away an employees right to vote for or against a Union in private. Talk about intimidation, not to mention basic rights. Try to imagine how fast Unions are going to take over business after business.

Then there is the so-called "Fairness Doctrine". That one is on the horizon also. In broad strokes, it will force equal time for views from both sides of the political spectrum. On the radio. Ya know, the area that conservatives dominate at the moment...

I'd be against this Bill even if it did extend to mainstream media news, television and theater. Can you imagine a world where in every show if someone said "global warming" the other guys would have equal time to disprove it? Nah, me either. No way the Dems are going to allow that to happen! However, if this bill passes, and it probably will given the make-up of Congress, it's going to be a nasty mess. I'll have to write another blog on what I think will happen if the Fairness Doctrine becomes law some day.

I wonder how long it will be after the Fairness Doctrine passes before this cancerous trend starts worming its way into other arenas? How long before freedom of speech and freedom of the press are history?

I'd like to think we won't get that far, but when ideology trumps common sense and power gives temporary invincibility, anything can happen.

I hope all my readers will go do a bit of research on the three issues I've mentioned: the rule changes being proposed by Pelosi (below), the new Union bill (ironically called the Employee Free Choice Act) and the Fairness Doctrine. Nothing fair 'bout any of 'em.

Pelosi Erases Gingrich's Long-Standing Fairness Rules
by Connie Hair
01/05/2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30143#continueA

Teeny, tiny turnout...

I know it was a special election at a strange time. I know it's the Christmas holidays. I know the length of the campaign was super truncated.

But only 3,608 people voted.

There are 21 precincts in District 72. If I'm reading the numbers correctly, there are 32,344 registered voters who could have voted today. The percentage who chose to vote is in the 11 - 12 percent range.

The lone Democrat in the race, Kevin Madden, garnered close to 16% of the vote.
Steve Brown's total was just under 25%.
Heidi Becker Vaisvil took slightly over 6% in her first foray into politics.
Matt Ramsey, all along the favorite to win, took the election without a run off with 53.35 percent of the vote.

I talked to people off and on over the past few weeks trying to get a feel for who was likely to vote. I was amazed at how many people simply didn't know there was an election.

There were signs all over the place, unusual at this time of year. Some had noted the signs but they didn't register, or they thought it must be for an election at some distant point.

I was surprised at how many people said they didn't read the local newspapers.

I know we had it on the Fayette Front Page, but it was down in the Political section so I'm not sure how many people pay attention to that section. Politics has a tendency to turn a lot of people off completely. Can't say that I blame them. There are times when I wish I didn't know as much as I do!

Every election I lament how few come out to vote. I think our focus is backwards. When there's a presidential election the turnout is overwhelming. When there is a state-wide election the turn out is fairly decent if not great (depends on which races are in play).

Get down to the local election and turnout decreases. Sometimes it falls into the pathetic range.

I've harped on this one before. The low turnout in this highly involved and educated county doesn't make a lot of sense.

Almost every bit of information we get about national and state elections is filtered through the media. Some of us take the time to go to political events where we might meet the candidates. But the vast majority of voters watch the candidates on TV, check them out on the Internet, or read about them in the paper. We see what they want us to see, what their opponents want us to see and what the media wants us to see.

Not so with local candidates. They sit next to you at church. Their children go to school with your children. You can drive five minutes to see them at a local event. You can find them in the local phone book. It's easy to find someone who knows the candidate. It's easy to find the candidate and ask them questions.

Local elected officials make decisions that affect us directly every day. Their decisions have a tremendous impact on our daily lives and our future.

It's important to vote in ALL elections.

In this particular election, all of District 72 is within Fayette County. It encompasses a large portion of the county. The person who represents us from this District can make a big difference in the future of our county.

I happen to think that Matt Ramsey will do a great job. I also think he'll be with us as a Representative until the point he decides to move on or step up to another elected position. He's responsive, knows the ropes and genuinely seems to be a good guy.

But I sure wish more people cared enough to take ten minutes from their day to vote.

Speaker Tom Murphy Dies

Former House Speaker Tom Murphy died earlier this evening. Murphy was the 69th Speaker of the House in Georgia, a title he held for over 25 years. He was the longest serving Speaker in Georgia's history. Flags will be slown at half-staff on the day of his funeral. As I type, funeral arrangements have not been announced.