PUBLIC MARKS from jasontromm with tag money

Proposals include income tax cuts, land conservation, more police Gov. Mark Sanford today will unveil his $6.5 billion state spending plan, which if adopted by the Legislature, would cut income taxes, put more officers on the street and set aside money for paying health care costs and preserving land. Sanford has already proposed boosting tourism -- the state’s largest industry -- by increasing money for local tourism and commerce groups to advertise their cities. Sanford has also proposed conserving more land and bringing broadband Internet to rural areas.

State revenues will grow by more than $387 million during the next two years, and Gov. Mark Sanford thinks some of that money should go back to taxpayers. Sanford fought with legislators to have extra revenue returned to taxpayers last session, but mostly lost the battle. Instead, lawmakers chose to restore money slashed from state programs during recent lean budget years as well as spending for projects back in their districts.

These are the nights when schools around America are filled with Harry Potters, soldiers, Draculas, and Disney princesses—at least those schools that still observe Halloween. There may be parades, parties, and picture-taking—and enough candy to keep dentists’ chairs occupied for the next year. But this Halloween I find myself contemplating something scarier than any Halloween fright mask—even a Nancy Pelosi “Speaker of the House” mask. It’s the thought of how money is spent in the name of educating the next generation.

Ya gotta love it! First, Al Gore fans the flames of global warming fears, then he capitalizes on the predicted upcoming planetary catastrophes by cashing in on it and lecturing others on how to make a financial killing! ()() More green hypocrisy. I guess Gore isn't a watermelon after all. He sure knows how to work the capitalist system.

One of the things the President and his evacuation team must do is follow the law -- or at least people say the President is not above the law, so it’s better that he obeys it. A law especially pertinent to this situation is the 2003 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, which -- in part -- requires the government to charge evacuees commercial fare plus a dollar for government evacuation. Obeying the law, the State Department had planned to make the evacuating Americans sign a note pledging to reimburse the U.S. government before they got on board. They were charging the price of a single commercial flight from Beirut to Cyprus -- usually $150-$200. When House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi heard about this, she quickly asked her staff to find the nearest microphone. They found CNN, to which Pelosi declared, “A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon.” ()() Incidentally, Nancy voted for the law which requires the state department to charge evacuees. Didn't she read the bill before voting for it?

A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer. At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa. ()() But if you believe the MSM the Democrats are pure as the driven snow. Only Republicans are supposed to be acting like this.

Record numbers of patients are overwhelming local medical clinics for the poor, Carolinas HealthCare System officials say, and the hospital wants more public money to help cover rising costs. For the past decade, Mecklenburg County has paid CHS and Presbyterian Healthcare $17.8 million per year to subsidize the costs of treating those who cannot pay for health care. ()()Wonder how many of the people overwhelming these clinics are illegal aliens?

Upstate leaders call Clemson University's automotive research center critical to the nation, but a fiscal watchdog group said Wednesday federal money for the center is nothing more than "pork." In its annual "Pig Book," Citizens Against Government Waste dismissed the $100,000 for the International Center for Automotive Research Park Innovation (ICAR) with nine words: "Yes, they are racing away with our tax dollars."

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that colleges that accept federal money must allow military recruiters on campus, despite university objections to the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.

Look at this Abramoff investigation. Already the media are treating it as a Republican scandal, almost exclusively. Well, the fact is that we know that both Dingy Harry and Helmet Head, Byron Dorgan, may have problems. Reid is the Senate Democrat leader. But they're reporting it this way because they want it to be a Republican scandal. Some news reports are even saying Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. We know for a fact he spread money around to both parties.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee said yesterday that almost all Senate Democrats have accepted money from scandal-plagued lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his associates or his Indian tribe clients. "I think Democrats might want to be a little bit careful before they start pointing fingers," said Sean Spicer, spokesman for the House Republican Conference. "This is something that has ensnared both parties."

A national organization of pregnancy centers that helps women will team up with Interstate Batteries and NASCAR driver Bobby LaBonte to raise money to help women with pregnancy needs and to find abortion alternatives. Care Net and the battery maker have partnered in a "Charged for Life" fundraising campaign that will begin on Sunday at the race in Martinsville.

A multi-million dollar restoration project will expend $24,000 to reconstruct a "historic toilet" on the first floor of a 1912 courthouse, authorities said.

Perhaps you've heard the one about the 700 firefighters from a variety of states who volunteered to do rescue work following Hurricane Katrina? They sat in a hotel room in Atlanta for days getting sexual harassment training from FEMA officials. No joke. Note to Republicans eager to shovel new money at federal agencies: This is the way government works.

Air America, the liberal radio answer to Rush Limbaugh, is now asking its listeners to send in money, leading some analysts to say the network is "crumbling."

Our president is very generous with other people's money. Worse, he is generous with the money of people who are in no position to object, either because they are too young or because they haven't been born yet.

Pro-life advocates say Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, continues to exploit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The organization previously said it would provide morning after pills to victims, instead of food or shelter, and is now raising money off of the hurricane for its local abortion centers.

The Bush administration is being widely criticized for the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina and the allegedly inadequate protection for "the big one" that residents had long feared would hit New Orleans. But research into more than ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding.

I've been dropping hints in previous columns about the FairTax proposal. Now the time is ripe to examine this idea.

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Inciting a capitalist riot.