RAHM’S CHICAGO: $1 BILLION FINANCIAL SHORTFALL FORECAST BY 2015

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released the city’s second Annual Financial Forecast on Wednesday. Not only does the report predict a $369 million financial shortfall for the city's operating "budget" in 2014, but it also predicts a shortfall of more than $1 billion by the year 2015.

In his press release regarding the city’s financial woes, Emanuel bragged, “By making the tough but necessary choices in 2012, we were able to cut our budget gap in half in one year without using one-time fixes... But this will not be done in one year and while a $369 million budget shortfall is a substantial gap, we are continuing to make the difficult but necessary choices as we right the city's financial ship and stabilize its fiscal future." 

But, is the city really making the “difficult choices,” as Emanuel claims?

On Thursday, Breitbart News reported the city’s payroll is more than $2.4 billion, with over 2400 city employees (not including school employees) making over $100,000 a year. The payroll is by far the highest expense for the city, yet in the Financial Forecast report, it is expected to increase by $100 million in 2014. No one from city hall is talking about making any cuts to employees’ salaries. A 10 percent across the board cut would cover most of the city’s shortfall for 2014, at least.

It seems, however, little can or will be done to deal in earnest with the greatest problem facing the city’s poorly managed budget—the unfunded pension liability for city retirees.

While Emanuel predicts revenue increases of $466 million and $580 million in 2014 and 2015 respectively, he fails to make any mention of the massive expenditures coming the city’s way in 2015 and 2016.

The city’s forecast report spells out that even the most positive outlook is beyond bleak, and the rosiest possible outcome painted in the report shows a $917.8 million shortfall by 2016.

Via: Breitbart

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Are Republicans Representing Their Constituents?

The Republican Party, in its quest to better represent its constituency, has launched a questionnaire to feel the pulse of the voters by asking specific questions in order to streamline their message. The message is always very important, the actual implementation of goals depends on the elected representatives and senators and the powerful lobby in Washington.

The GOP wants to know if “Americans support efforts to reform entitlements, cut spending, and put our nation on track to a balanced federal budget without raising taxes.” Judging by the anemic economy, the weak and statistically manipulated GDP, the high unemployment rate, the huge welfare rolls, the alarming part-time labor force, the answer is yes.

Conservatives have been faxing and calling their Congressmen, protesting around the Capitol, rallying around the country, holding town hall meetings, writing op-eds, but their wishes have fallen on deaf ears. Efforts to cut entitlements are non-existent; on the contrary, 11 plus million illegal immigrants will be added to the welfare rolls and to Social Security via blanket amnesty which Republicans cannot wait to pass if we are to judge by their constant radio and television ads in support of amnesty.

I am unsure if a balanced federal budget is possible any time soon since bill after bill is full of pork from both sides, most of which have little to do with the title of the bill. Case in point is the Farm Bill which includes more food stamps and other non-farm items. The national debt is past $17 trillion, galloping to the $19 trillion point of no return, and Republicans go along with the spending.

Via: Canada Free Press

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As Detroit Goes, So Goes the Nation

Detroit is the poster child for economic decline. The city’s policies and politics over the past half-century should serve as a “do not” guide for policymakers across the country.

There’s a great deal lawmakers in Washington can learn. The first is understanding that Detroit’s demise was the result of big-government, liberal policies promoted by self-interested politicians and coercive public employee unions.

Via: The Foundry

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Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans

(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.

The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.

"I have never heard of anything like this at all," said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers.

"It is one thing to create special rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations.

Via: Reuters

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Rep. Ellison: ‘There’s Plenty of Money, It’s Just The Government Doesn’t Have It’

AND HE THINKS IT BELONGS TO THE GOVERNMENT - TYPICAL LIB THINKING

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told a gathering of Democrats, “The bottom line is we’re not broke, there’s plenty of money, it’s just the government doesn’t have it.”

Ellison was discussing his ‘Inclusive Prosperity Act’ measure at the July 25th Progressive Democrats of America roundtable in Washington.

“People like, George Soros, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sax, Dean Baker, Robert Poland, Larry Summers have said they all support a transaction tax,” Ellison said.

“The bottom line is we’re not broke, there’s plenty of money, it’s just the government doesn’t have it,” Ellison continued, “The government has a right, the government and the people of the United States have a right to run the programs of the United States. Health, welfare, housing – all these things.”

The ‘Inclusive Prosperity Act’ would levy a sales tax on the trading of stocks, bonds and derivatives. Ellison estimates it would generate $300 billion in revenues annually.

According to the bill revenue raised will go to several priorities and, “fund international sustainable prosperity programs such as health care investments, AIDS treatment, research and prevention programs, climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts by developing countries, and international assistance."

Via: CNS News

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CBS News: Terrorists Already Have Orders, Could Be In Place For Attacks

WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — U.S. intelligence officials are dealing with the most credible terrorist threat in years as 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa remain closed through this upcoming Saturday.

CBS News reports that a large-scale attack may be imminent as al-Qaeda terrorists in the Arabian Peninsula already have their orders and could be in place for execution of the alleged plot.

Juan Zarate, a CBS News security analyst, says this recent plot is similar to one from 2010 in which several European sites were targeted.

“People were worried about Mumbai-style attacks coming from the al-Qaeda core,” Zarate said, adding, “It never materialized but officials were worried that they actually had operatives in place. And, that’s a great concern here.”

The State Department said 19 diplomatic posts will remain closed through Saturday “out of an abundance of caution.” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the decision to keep the embassies and consulates closed is “not an indication of a new threat.”

Diplomatic facilities in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antananarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis are instructed to close for normal operations through Saturday, Aug. 10.

Via: CBS News DC

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RNC Warning to CNN And NBC Over Hillary Clinton Films Sounds A Lot Like An Empty Threat

My initial reaction to the news that NBC is developing a Diane Lane-helmed Hillary Clintonminiseries while CNN is developing its own Clinton film that will be in movie theaters was a fair bit of eye-rolling and a prediction that given how Clinton is most likely going to run in 2016 (that is why the movie and miniseries are being made, right?), it’s doubtful these networks would want to air anything too critical of the next potential leader of the free world. I’m sure the Republican National Committee and its chairman, Reince Priebus, all reacted the same way, but the threat they issued to not allow NBC and CNN to partner with them for 2016 debates feels more than a little hollow.

Let’s start off with obvious problem number one: these projects were just announced. And while I stand by my aforementioned prediction, the fair thing to do (for a political party, at least) is to reserve final judgments for when the finished products arrive for us to consume. If the RNC watches the Clintontainment and concludes it’s naught but a way to promote her 2016 candidacy, by all means go ahead and avoid them.

Obvious problem number two: technically speaking, Hillary Clinton hasn’t announced her campaign yet. Yes, yes, yes, she’s probably going to run, but there’s a chance she probably won’t. How do you think the Republican National Committee is going to look if they vote to refuse to collaborate on debates with networks that ran TV films about a Democratic politician who they’re not even running against? A preemptive move like that without absolute certainty of Clinton’s 2016 ambitions doesn’t make much sense.

Not to mention if they withdraw and then it turns out the Clinton films have actually been presented fairly and without much political bias, they’re going to look really petty.

But aside from the obvious, there’s another reason none of this passes the smell test: the sudden realization from Republicans that there is a liberal bias in the media! Gasp!

Or wait, hasn’t the GOP been talking about liberal media bias for years? All down the line, for years on end, you had Republicans and conservatives bashing every network but Fox News for promoting a liberal agenda, mocking their not-so-secret crush on President Obama, and, in the 2012 election,accusing many of the debate moderators of being biased against them.

Via: Mediaite

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Watchdog: US spending $772M on aircraft Afghans 'cannot operate or maintain'

The chief watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction warned in a recent audit that the Pentagon is moving forward with a $772 million purchase of aircraft that the Afghan army "cannot operate or maintain." 

The latest quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction cited the aircraft purchases among its top concerns. The IG's office had earlier issued a report in June detailing how "the Afghans lack the capacity -- in both personnel numbers and expertise -- to operate and maintain" existing and planned fleets. 

The findings are likely to contribute to the budget debate on Capitol Hill over the funding. The bulk of the purchase is a $554 million contract for 30 Mi-17 helicopters from Russian firm Rosoboronexport. 

Senators already are trying to strip funding for those contracts, out of concern for the company's ties to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Before Congress went on recess, a Senate budget panel signed off on a spending bill that guts funding for the Mi-17 choppers. 

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The IG audit cited a different set of concerns -- that the Afghan unit responsible for the aircraft has just one quarter of the personnel it needs to be at "full strength," that recruiting and training challenges inhibit growth; that the Afghan Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior have no agreement on the "command and control" of the unit; and that few of the pilots in the unit are fully qualified to fly with night vision goggles. 

The report urged the U.S. military to suspend contracts until the Afghan ministries come to an agreement. It also called for a better plan to be developed for transferring the unit over to the Afghans.

Via: Fox News

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Caretaker Sentenced for Collecting Dead Man’s Social Security for 16 Years

(CNSNews.com) – An Oregon woman who ran an adult foster home will serve 57 months in prison for concealing the death of a man in her care so she could collect more than $200,000 of his Social Security benefits.

The woman is connected to three other deaths of elderly patients, and buried the body of one man to prevent welfare workers from finding out she was living in “squalid conditions” with a pet monkey.

Carel June Cody, 47, collected $203,528 in retirement payments from the man, John Arnold, in his mid-70s, who died sometime in 1996 under her care.  Cody was not charged with his death, though “authorities suspect he died of abuse or neglect.”

Three other men died under Cody’s care in a state-certified adult foster home, but charges were never filed.  Instead, Cody will serve nearly five years in prison for bank fraud, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft.

Cody buried Arnold’s body in a hole and covered it with bags of lime.  His remains were never recovered.

“Cody told authorities that she had concealed Arnold’s death to prevent state welfare workers from discovering that she was living in squalid conditions with a pet monkey, according to court records,” the Social Security Administration said.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken said the case “defies explanation.

Via: CNS News

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