The Department of Defense didn’t ask for money to update the old officers club in San Francisco’s Presidio into a visitors information center and exhibition space. Neither did any other member of Congress – except House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (SF Gate)

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the $626 billion defense appropriations bill approved by the Senate last Saturday.  $128 billion is allocated to Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Typical to modern legislation, it was heavily laden with earmarks.  The total came to 1,720, amounting to $4.2 billion.  Congress recently passed a $447 billion spending bill (Dec 13th) with over 5,000 earmarks, as reported in a previous post.

After the defense spending bill passed the House this week, Pelosi issued a statement praising the measure for making “critical investments in the success, health, well-being and training of our men and women in uniform.”

Pelosi mentioned that the bill included a pay raise for military personnel and resources for everything from treating troops suffering from traumatic brain injury to money for “first-class equipment and armor.”

But she didn’t mention the money for the Presidio Heritage Center.

[...]

The $5 million earmark will fund close to 25 percent of the center’s estimated renovation and help leverage other donations from corporations and foundations, said Tia Lombardi, director of public affairs at the Presidio Trust.

In other words, the trust needs federal subsidies to lure private investment – so it no longer has to rely on federal subsidies. The building, which dates to the early 1800s, is now used for exhibitions and events.  (SF Gate)

Pelosi’s Bill was passed last weekend (11/07/09) and many are wondering what exactly this means for America.  Have we just demonstrated our humanitarian nature regarding one another, or have we just been duped once again into supporting policy which is against our best interest?

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s healthcare plan presumes that about 8-14 million American workers will pay fines rather than buy health insurance. Unless they do, there’s a $167-billion hole in her financing plan and everything falls apart.

Former Congressman Ernest Istook continues, saying:

For this group of uninsured, the Pelosi plan makes them pay a lot and get little or nothing.

This is not a “millionaire’s tax.” It’s a tax on the uninsured. According to The New York Times, these tend to be “the working poor.”

Read News Max Article

Due to the massive amount of pages in the Pelosi Bill (HR 3963), which passed the House last weekend (11/07), it has become necessary for those with the time (and the legislative interpretation skills) to summarize the lengthy bills we here so much opinion about on the news today.  Let’s go back to July of this year and glance over some key points in the original Obama (HR 3200) proposed healthcare reform bill.

A U.S. Army translator, who was nice enough to interpret some of the original Obama healthcare reform bill (1,017 pages), lay’s out the following summary:

• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.

• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.

• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.

• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll

• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll

• Page 167: Any individual who doesnt’ have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.

• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).

• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.

• Page 203: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it really says that.

• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.

• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.

Read at Free Republic

How huge is this collection of mandates, subsidies, tax hikes, spending and perverse incentives? As the picture shows, it’s a monster.

This bill isn’t just longer than a Stephen King novel, it’s also scarier, because aside from the title, this tome is all nonfiction. Congress could benefit from a good editor, though, because in 800 fewer pages, Stephen King wiped out 99 percent of Earth’s population, rebuilt society, created a dramatic good vs. evil confrontation and nuked Las Vegas. HR 3962 only manages to give the government control of 17 percent of the U.S. economy and the health care choices of every American.

Oh, and what about the other book in the image, the little one? Pay no attention to that old thing — Congress isn’t.

By Mr. Paul Kersey and Mr. Jarrett Skorup | 10/29/2009 2:35 PM

Mackinac Center for Public Policy