Freedom of BLEEP

Cap and Trade Invites Corruption and Wasteful Spending

1. Politicians Handpick Handout Recipients

Eighty-five percent of the carbon permits will not be auctioned. They will be given to specific (politically connected) companies instead, at the discretion of government officials. Who is already slated to receive handouts? General Electric (with the CEO on Obama’s advisory counsel), AIG, and of course Government Motors. Smaller businesses will be among those fighting for the scraps and having to pay for permits.

2. Funding for Non-existent Programs and Ambiguous Causes

Example: Under the Cap and Trade legislation, US funding will be used to “build capacity to reduce deforestation in developing countries experiencing deforestation, including preparing developing countries to participate in international markets for international offset credits for reduced emissions from deforestation.” Give me a break. International offset markets don’t exist yet, nor do they even appear feasible at this point. How can we prepare developing countries to participate in a market with unknown structure and incomprehensible dynamics? And the “capacity” to reduce deforestation is so ill-defined that huge sums of money will inevitably be spent on nothing at all. Kind of like Obama’s economic stimulus package.

3. Taxpayers Sow, Lobbyists Reap

The farm lobby will be rewarded for practices that do not reduce greenhouse gases, such as no-till planting. One peer reviewed study shows that no-till does nothing to reduce carbon emissions in some soils; another peer reviewed study shows that this method actually increases nitrous oxide emissions, a more harmful greenhouse gas. But it is known that no-till makes weed control much more difficult. This is great news for the lobbyists of Monsanto (manufacturers of RoundUp and other herbicides), who have been especially aggressive throughout the drafting of this bill. In addition, agricultural businesses that are exempt from cap-and-trade regulations will still be given permits to sell. How much do you think Waxman received from the farm lobby to overlook this non sequitur?

4. Freebies for Fraudsters

Corrupt gangs of “community organizers” like ACORN will be eligible to receive billions in funding through cap and trade (despite their long history of fraud). The bill “authorizes the Secretary [of Energy] to make grants to community development organizations to provide financing to businesses and projects that improve energy efficiency.” Such projects will probably enlist overpaid ACORN “consultants” to walk around and ask businesses to turn down their AC.

The US Department of Justice has ordered the state of Georgia to stop verifying voter registrations. Not only does this prevent Georgia from verifying that voters are actually citizens, but it prevents the state from verifying that the person even exists! Now non-citizens and dead people can legally vote! That is how much Obama hates democracy.

Yes, this is really happening. Read this memo issued by the Georgia Secretary of State, in which she rebukes the “shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections.”

This mandate from the Obama Administration is completely illogical and unnecessary. Not a single person has come forward to say he or she could not vote because of the verification process.

It’s quite obvious that Obama is trying to facilitate his fellow “community organizers.” Members of undeniably corrupt organizations like ACORN will be casting votes in every precinct under a different name. Truck loads of illegals will be taken to the polls. Democracy is under assault; not in a country on the other side of the world, but right here in the United States.

The Obama Administration is corrupt and power-thirsty… A dangerous combination. But Hugo Chavez said it best: “Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right!”

Sign the petition initiated by Karen Handel, Georgia Secretary of State!

Democrats promise to serve the people through the expansion of government. In reality, these politicians only support big government to increase their wealth and power. This week’s corrupt politician is Congressman John Murtha.

As the head of the Defense Committee, Congressman Murtha controls hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. How does he distribute funding? Seemingly, it all depends on which contractor gives him the most money.

Murtha is granting $8 million to Argon ST. The CEO donated the maximum amount allowed by law toward Murtha’s last campaign. Murtha is directing a $5 million earmark toward Advanced Acoustic Concepts, which also gave the max to his campaign. CBS News reports, “10 recent Murtha donors are slated to receive $31 million in Murtha earmarks for 2010.”

Who isn’t getting earmarks? One defense contractor was set to receive $1 million from Murtha. He was told in order to get the money, he should “consider opening an office” in Murtha’s hometown. Officials distributing the money also chided the contractor for not giving “enough campaign contributions to Murtha,” and for not making “a showing at Murtha’s annual defense contractor fair.” The defense contractor didn’t care to play that game… And they didn’t get the funds.

Murtha has not commented on quid pro quo suspicions, but he did recently tell his local newspaper that he’s only trying to bring home the bacon.

Rock on!

Murtha isn’t the only one bringing home the bacon. Murtech, his nephew’s company also gets about $1.4 million every year from the Pentagon (without competitive bidding). Conveniently, everything Murtech does for the government is classified.

Don’t forget the John Murtha Airport he had built in his tiny hometown with $180 million of tax payer money (that also received $30 million in military upgrades which have never been used).

Come see our airport!

Speaking of corrupt liberals…

You may have noticed that this site was down for a few hours earlier today. The database was corrupted by what was most definitely a malicious attack.

Note to the hacker: Your ability to hack an open source framework with publicly known vulnerabilities is most impressive. But I have automated backups running so you wasted a lot more time than I did.

Obama’s Power Grab, Part I

Thanks to the liberals in office, our government will now be deciding where your donations to charity go. They will be taking money out of your taxes to give to charities of their choice. Charities like tattoo removal. Obviously they are selecting charities backed by their campaign donors, possibly making this one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation in American history. So much for Obama’s promise to clean up Washington…

You don’t think tattoo removal is a worthy cause? Adding insult to injury, the Obama tax plan will also reduce the deductions for voluntary charitable contributions (in addition to increasing the taxes of those making over $250,000 - otherwise known as the top 2% of Americans who already pay more than 40% of all federal income taxes!!). Many are rightfully angered by the proposition, arguing that not-for-profits can barely survive amidst the downturn in the economy. They rely on each and every dollar coming in from donors, and reducing the charitable donation tax deductions will most definitely decrease donations.

Liberals love to vilify the rich by painting them as selfish misers, only out for the tax benefit of donating. Of course those who are already predisposed to donate will continue, but when you take away the additional tax benefits, it is only reasonable to assume that people will reduce their contributions during tough times.

But charities be comforted! Peter Orszag, Obama’s director of the Office and Management Budget, assures that in the recovery act “there’s $100 million to support nonprofits and charities as we get through this period of economic difficulty.” That is, if you are one of the liberals’ pet charities. As NYT-labeled “fundraising expert” Robert Sharpe Jr. says “The administration’s proposal is doing just that, reordering charitable priorities by taking money wealthy people would have given to other charities and making it go into the health care system.”  Unfortunately, health care is only one of the many “charitable contributions” that the government is making with taxpayer dollars.

I’m curious where it says in the Constitution that the government is equipped to “reorder” American citizens’ priorities. This is just another way that the democrats are taking personal decisions out of the hands of Americans and making the decisions for them. Should the government really decide which charities are worthy and which aren’t?