“passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it.”

I can’t add anything to this. The arrogance of these people continue to amaze me.

Impatiently waiting until November 2010

The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) consists of 83 members and is the largest caucus within the Democratic Caucus.

I would suggest that you make a copy of this list and refer to it often when reading or listening to the news. This will give you some insight to the reasoning behind these Progressive Congressmen. You can also use it when you go to the voting booth.

Co-Chairs
Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

Vice Chairs
Hon. Diane Watson (CA-33)
Hon. Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18)
Hon. Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Hon. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)
Hon. Donna F. Edwards (MD-04)
Hon. Alan Grayson (FL-08)

Senate Members
Hon. Roland Burris (IL)
Hon. Bernie Sanders (VT)
Hon. Tom Udall (NM)

House Members
Hon. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Hon. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
Hon. Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Hon. Robert Brady (PA-01)
Hon. Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-08)
Hon. André Carson (IN-07)
Hon. Donna Christensen (VI-AL)
Hon. Judy Chu (CA-32)
Hon. Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Hon. William “Lacy” Clay (MO-01)
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Hon. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Hon. John Conyers (MI-14)
Hon. Elijah Cummings (MD-07)
Hon. Danny Davis (IL-07)
Hon. Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Hon. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Hon. Sam Farr (CA-17)
Hon. Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Hon. Bob Filner (CA-51)
Hon. Barney Frank (MA-04)
Hon. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Hon. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Hon. John Hall (NY-19)
Hon. Phil Hare (IL-17)
Hon. Alcee Hastings (FL-23)
Hon. Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Hon. Michael Honda (CA-15)
Hon. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02)
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)
Hon. Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Hon. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Hon. Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-13)
Hon. Barbara Lee (CA-09)
Hon. John Lewis (GA-05)
Hon. David Loebsack (IA-02)
Hon. Ben R. Lujan (NM-3)
Hon. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
Hon. Ed Markey (MA-07)
Hon. Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Hon. James McGovern (MA-03)
Hon. George Miller (CA-07)
Hon. Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Hon. Jim Moran (VA-08)
Hon. Jerrold Nadler (NY-08)
Hon. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC-AL)
Hon. John Olver (MA-01)
Hon. Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Hon. Ed Pastor (AZ-04)
Hon. Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Hon. Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Hon. Jared Polis (CO-02)
Hon. Charles Rangel (NY-15)
Hon. Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Hon. Bobby Rush (IL-01)
Hon. Linda Sánchez (CA-39)
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Hon. José Serrano (NY-16)
Hon. Louise Slaughter (NY-28)
Hon. Pete Stark (CA-13)
Hon. Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Hon. John Tierney (MA-06)
Hon. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12)
Hon. Maxine Waters (CA-35)
Hon. Mel Watt (NC-12)
Hon. Henry Waxman (CA-30)
Hon. Peter Welch (VT-AL)

Up for election this year are 435 House seats and a third of the Senate seats. For the GOP to gain control of the House there would have to be a shift of 45 seats. For Republicans to gain control of the Senate, 6 seats would have to shift.

The 2010 elections are only a few months away and it’s only proper that you know what politicians in your State are avowed Socialists.

Below is a list of those politicians that are members of the DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA as of October 10, 2009. For more information about the Democratic Socialists of America, you can go to their web site and find out for yourself what it is all about. The URL is (http://www.dsausa.org) At one time, the following list of members could be located on the DSA web site. However, Once this list was made public, The DSA removed the link and the Web page. This list was obtained from www.resistnet.com. Review the list very carefully and note those in your State and vote them out of office.

Q: How many members of the U.S. Congress are also members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)?
A: Seventy

Q: How many of the DSA members sit on the Judiciary Committee?
A: Eleven: John Conyers [Chairman of the Judiciary Committee], Tammy Baldwin, Jerrold Nadler, Luis Gutierrez, Melvin Watt, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Steve Cohen, Barbara Lee, Robert Wexler, Linda Sanchez [there are 23 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee of which eleven, almost half, are now members of the DSA].

Q: Who are these members of 111th Congress?
A: See the listing below:

Co-Chairs

Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

Vice Chairs

Hon. Diane Watson (CA-33)
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18)
Hon. Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Hon. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)

Arizona
Hon. Ed Pastor (AZ-04)

California
Hon. Henry Waxman (CA-30)
Hon. Maxine Waters (CA-35)
Hon. Pete Stark (CA-13)
Hon. Linda Sánchez (CA-47)
Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Hon. Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Hon. George Miller (CA-07)
Hon. Bob Filner (CA-51)
Hon. Sam Farr (CA-17)
Hon. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
Hon. Michael Honda (CA-15)
Hon. Barbara Lee (CA-09)

Connecticut
Hon. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)

District of Columbia
Hon. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC-AL)

Florida
Hon. Alan Grayson (FL-08)
Hon. Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Hon. Robert Wexler (FL-19)

Georgia
Hon. Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Hon. John Lewis (GA-05)

Hawaii
Hon. Neil Abercrombie (HI-01)

Iowa
Hon. David Loebsack (IA-02)

Illinois
Hon. Bobby Rush (IL-01)
Hon. Danny Davis (IL-07)
Hon. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Hon. Phil Hare (IL-17)
Hon. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02)
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)

Indiana
Hon. André Carson (IN-07)

Maine
Hon. Chellie Pingree (ME-01)

Maryland
Rep. Donna F. Edwards (MD-04)
Hon. Elijah Cummings (MD-07)

Massachusetts
Hon. John Olver (MA-01)
Hon. James McGovern (MA-03)
Hon. Ed Markey (MA-07)
Hon. Barney Frank (MA-04)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-08)
Hon. John Tierney (MA-06)

Michigan
Hon. John Conyers (MI-14)
Hon. Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-13)

Minnesota
Hon. Keith Ellison (MN-05)

Missouri
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Hon. William “Lacy” Clay (MO-01)

Mississippi
Hon. Bennie Thompson (MS-02)

North Carolina
Hon. Mel Watt (NC-12)

New Jersey
Hon. Donald Payne (NJ-10)

New Mexico
Hon. Ben R. Lujan (NM-3)

New York
Hon. Jerrold Nadler (NY-08)
Hon. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
Hon. Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Hon. John Hall (NY-19)
Hon. Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Hon. Charles Rangel (NY-15)
Hon. José Serrano (NY-16)
Hon. Louise Slaughter (NY-28)
Hon. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12

Ohio
Hon. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Hon. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Oregon
Hon. Peter DeFazio (OR-04)

Pennsylvania
Hon. Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Hon. Robert Brady (PA-01)

Tennessee
Hon. Steve Cohen (TN-09)

Texas
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Vermont
Hon. Bernie Sanders (VT)
Hon. Peter Welch (VT-AL)

Virginia
Hon. Donna Christensen (VI-AL)

Wisconsin
Hon. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Hon. Gwen Moore (WI-04)

Check back tomorrow for a list of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Obama debt commission member, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, launched a scary trial balloon on ABC News. Gregg suggested the debt commission will likely recommend a massive $26.7 trillion tax increase. Here are Gregg’s actual words:

“Everything has to be on the table – there’s no question about that… Erskine Bowles, one of the co-chairmen of the commission, has suggested a 75-25 split — 75 percent of the savings being in spending, and 25 percent in revenues… I think it’s likely that there will have to be a revenue component, but it should be significantly, dramatically — and a 3-1 ratio is pretty dramatic — dramatically less than the initiatives in the spending side of the ledger.”

According to an analysis by Americans for Tax Reform if Bowles wants $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes then the tax increases will be larger than anyone expects:

“Bowles and Gregg can only be talking about cutting $3 in promised Social Security and Medicare benefits in exchange for $1 in tax increases. In other words, 1/4 of the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare would be paid for with tax hikes. So how big is that? According to the 2009 Social Security and Medicare Actuaries’ Report, the long-run insolvency of the Social Security and Medicare systems is $106.8 trillion (with a “t”) over the infinite horizon. To close this gap with one-quarter tax hikes is, therefore, to raise taxes by $26.7 trillion. Of course, this number is undoubtedly higher since the Obama Administration is sitting on (read: hiding) the 2010 version of the report (it’s nearly six months overdue).”

On the heels of a huge tax increases included in the over-2000-page ObamaCare package, together with over-2000-page so-called “Financial Reform Package,” together with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, Obama’s economic policies have guaranteed a double-dip recession.

Strap on your safety belts, because the anemic economic recovery of 2010 is about to become a government-induced second recession or double-dip in 2011. This outcome is baked in the cake even before any tax increases from the Obama debt commission are enacted.

If they are so greedy as to also try — by passage of a climate control bill — increases in energy taxes then this second recession will likely lead to deflation and a collapse into a government-sponsored depression. The economy cannot afford more money being redirected from investments toward government spending.

Clearly from this evidence alone it is plain to see that Obama isn’t judging his success based on a record of economic growth, but instead he is pursuing a program of economic redistribution. The administration has no focus on expanding the economic pie; instead, they are concerned with devouring every piece of the pie.

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, has been watching the Obama debt commission closely, and he concluded after hearing reports of Sen. Gregg’s comments:

“It’s been clear from the beginning that the purpose of this Commission was to put GOP fingerprints on a tax hike, likely a VAT… Gregg seems to be giving them all ten fingers… The true agenda of this commission has always been to hide the ball on a tax hike until after the November elections – hence the December reporting date. Gregg’s gaffe today tips their hand,”

Higher taxes are never the answer. With the economy so weak, Congress should be making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Taxes on capital formation and investment should be eliminated all together.

Let’s think about President Obama’s failed economic stimulus program. Before getting to the nitty-gritty of why stimulus packages fail, let’s look at the failed stimulus program of Obama’s hero, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR’s Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, wrote in his diary: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. … We have never made good on our promises. … I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … and an enormous debt to boot!”

Morgenthau was being a bit gracious. The unemployment figures for FDR’s first eight years were: 18 percent in 1935; 14 percent in 1936; by 1938, unemployment was back to 20 percent. The stock market fell nearly 50 percent between August 1937 and March 1938. Columnist Walter Lippmann wrote, “With almost no important exception every measure he (Roosevelt) has been interested in for the past five months has been to reduce or discourage the production of wealth.” The last year of the Herbert Hoover administration, the top marginal income tax rate was raised from 24 to 63 percent. During the Roosevelt administration, the top rate was raised at first to 79 percent and then later to 90 percent. Hillsdale College economic historian Professor Burton Folsom notes that in 1941, Roosevelt even proposed a whopping 99.5 percent marginal rate on all incomes over $100,000. Much more of the Hoover/FDR fiasco can be found in “Great Myths of the Great Depression”.

The Great Depression did not end until after WWII. Why it lasted so long went unanswered until Harold L. Cole, professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and Lee E. Ohanian, professor of economics at UCLA, published their research project “How Government Prolonged the Depression” in the Journal of Political Economy (August 2004). Professor Cole explained, “The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes. Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened.” Professors Cole and Ohanian argue that FDR’s economic policies added at least seven years to the depression.

Where do the trillion-plus dollars come from that Congress and Obama are spending in an effort to stimulate the economy? How about Santa Claus, or maybe the Tooth Fairy? If you said, “Come on, Williams, you’re being silly! The only way government can spend a dollar is to tax or borrow it,” go to the head of the class. In the case of a tax, one should ask what would that taxpayer have done with the dollar had it not been taxed away. He would have spent it on something that would have created a job for someone. If the government hadn’t borrowed the dollar, it might have been invested in some project that would have created a job. When government taxes, borrows and spends, it shifts unemployment from one sector to another. Of course, the sector that benefits tends to be a political favorite of the shifter.

Between 1787 and 1930, our nation has seen both mild and severe economic downturns, sometimes called panics, that have ranged from one to seven years. During that interval, no one considered it to be the business of the federal government to try to get the economy out of a depression because there was no constitutional authority to do so. It took Hoover, FDR and a frightened and derelict U.S. Supreme Court to turn what might have been a three- or four-year sharp downturn into a 15-year meltdown.

Walter E. Williams’s Biography – Dr. Williams serves on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and is the author of More Liberty Means Less Government: Our Founders Knew This Well.

President Obama bypassed Congress Wednesday and through a “recess appointment” put Donald Berwick — a leading advocate of rationing healthcare — in charge of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Berwick will now spear head efforts to cut $500 billion in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Obama claims that he issued this executive order because Republicans were wasting time and playing games for “political purposes.”

But the truth is Berwick is America’s worst nightmare when it comes to healthcare reform.  Obama’s recess appointment was clearly an effort to avoid public hearings on Berwick’s controversial views.

Here are the TopTen things the Obama Administration didn’t want you to know about Berwick:

1. Donald Berwick, President Obama’s nominee to administer Medicare and Medicare, has stated openly that he favors rationing healthcare “with our eyes open.” He wants the government to be able to decide how much healthcare you and your family are entitled to.

2. Berwick believes for that healthcare to be effective we must redistribute wealth. “Any healthcare funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent healthcare is by definition redistributional,” said Berwick.

3. Berwick is “in love” with Britain’s National Heath Service. He called the British system — that many here in the U.S. refer to as “free for all, but worthless to many” — a “seductress” about which he is “romantic.”

In an op-ed published in the Washington Post in 1992 Berwick stated about Britain: “At last, a nation where healthcare is a right and carrying a semi-automatic machine gun is a privilege. Berwick also described a “utopian” future in which the government is in complete control of the healthcare system.

4. Berwick believes that ultrasounds in normal pregnancies and cesarean sections amount to an “assault” and wants to cut prenatal care programs.

“As many as 80% of hysterectomies are scientifically unnecessary, so are more than a quarter of the drugs used for ear infections, most of the ultrasounds done in normal pregnancies, and half of cesarean sections in the United States. Isn’t this, with all do respect, some form of assault and battery, however unintended,” said Berwick

5. Berwick has repeatedly expressed his support for a single-payer healthcare system. Berwick has stated that if he could “wave a wand…

* Healthcare is a common good – single payer, speaking and buying for the common good;
* Healthcare is a human right – universality is a non-negotiable starting place;
* Justice is a prerequisite to health –equity is a primary quality goal.”

6. Berwick will cut the number of cardiac centers, cancer-care centers, neonatal intensive-care units, and high-level trama centers.
 
7. Berwick doesn’t trust the free market. “Don’t trust market forces,” instructs Berwick. Trust “leaders with plans.”

“When you rely on incentives, market forces, competition, and upward reporting for excellence you are playing with fire. I believe it is better to rely instead whenever possible on spirit, purpose, learning cooperation and joy in work.”

8. Berwick will cut preventative care in cases such as mammograms and ultrasounds. “One over demanding service is prevention; annual physicals, screening tests, and other measures that supposedly help catch disease early,” said Berwick in a 1998 Institute for Healthcare Improvement publication.

9. On “End of Life Care,” Berwick stated in a 1993 speech that “only a minority of patients, families, and clinicians support prolonged use of life-sustaining procedures and dramatic interventions in the terminal states of illness, yet substantial use of these procedures continue.”

10. Berwick, highlights race as a factor in healthcare reform. “It’s still true that race, minority race, especially being black in our country, is the strongest critique that we have about health,” said Berwick.

Miss Oddis is Assistant Managing Editor at HUMAN EVENTS.