Video: Budget Committee Democrats Vote To Fund Food Stamp Promotions In Foreign Embassies
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2013--At yesterday's Budget Committee mark-up, Sen. Sessions offered an amendment to prohibit any further funds from being expended on the controversial U.S.-Mexico food stamp partnership, which allows USDA to advertise food stamp benefits in foreign consulates. This commonsense amendment was voted down unanimously by the panel's Democrats.
Who is Erskine Bowles you ask? Erskine Bowles is the Democratic co-chair of President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Alan K. Simpson
Video: Erskine Bowles: Ryan budget is "sensible...honest, serious" (1:14 mins total)
Wait till you hear what he says about Obama's budget - and what that "cut $4 trillion over 12 years" really was. And, what he said about Paul Ryan is fabulous!! :-)
Daily Caller – Photo: AP
Erskine Bowles is not backing away from his previous praise of Rep. Paul Ryan now that the Wisconsin congressman is on the Republican presidential ticket.
“I like him,” Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and co-chairperson of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, told The Daily Caller in a phone interview.
“I think he’s smart. I think he’s intellectually curious. I think he is honest, straightforward and sincere. And I think he does have a serious budget out there — it doesn’t mean I agree with it by any stretch of the imagination. But I’m not going to act like I don’t like him or that I don’t have some real respect for him.”
Bowles, who along with former Republican Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson chaired a presidential commission that ultimately released a budget proposal to fix America’s long-term budget crisis, says that though he has disagreements with some aspects of Ryan’s budget, he believes they can be overcome.
“You know, there’s a reason he didn’t vote for our budget, and there’s a reason that, I know, that I have some disagreements with his budget,” Bowles said.
“But it doesn’t mean we couldn’t find a way to, you know, have principled compromise that would, you know, that would address this horrendous problem that we face with these deficits.”
A bipartisan group of four senators recently wrote a letter to the presidential debate commission requesting that it ask the presidential contenders about where they stand on the Simpson-Bowles debt plan. In response on Tuesday, three Democratic House members wrote to the commission asking it not to specifically ask the presidential candidates where they stand on the Simpson-Bowles plan. In a follow-up email responding to the Democrats’ letter, Bowles said, “There are lots of Democrats and Republicans that wish this whole debt/deficit talk would just go away.”
Comments:
One Term:
"Bowles says he plans on voting for President Obama in November."
…bowles and his entire massive effort to rein in the US debt were thrown under the bus by OBOZO – and yet he’ll still vote for him. NOBODY can ever say that committed d-cRAT socialists are SANE, RATIONAL or RESPONSIBLE – or act in the best interest of the country. NOBODY.
MGA:
What is wrong with these lefties? Last night on ‘On the Record’ with Greta, she interviewed Paul Ryan’s former government teacher, Sam Loizzo, who rambled on about what a great guy and great friend Paul Ryan is/has been and how Ryan was a great student, smart, hard-working and is a person of character who wins consistently in a mixed district where Gore and Obama won at the same time he won his Congressional seat race each time. He also talked about how Paul Ryan honored him on the House Floor for being a great influence on his life and how great Ryan always is wonderful with the students at home in Janesville and those that retired teacher Sam Loizzo has brought to DC on field trips over the years. He says he loves Ryan who is a great family man and a man of principle. So Greta jumped in and asked the union Democrat teacher if he will vote for Ryan as VP. And he said no, because Ryan believes in education being a local responsibility. God only knows… friendship, honesty, principle etc. can’t trump federal government money for these big government lefties. SAD!
I’m going to be writing Sam Loizzo in Janesville, WI and telling him: Shame on You!
Video: United States Budget Dilemma
Millions of illegal immigrants are getting a bigger tax refund than you. Eyewitness News shows a massive tax loophole that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to undocumented workers and, in many cases, people who have never stepped foot in the United States. And you are paying for it!
Note: This is part one in a two-part series. Read part two here.
INDIANAPOLIS - Inside his central Indiana office, a longtime tax consultant sits at his desk, shaking his head in disbelief.
"There is not a doubt in my mind there's huge fraud taking place here," he said, slowly flipping through the pages of a tax return.
The tax preparer does not want you to know his name for fear of reprisal, but he does want you to know about a nationwide problem with a huge price tag.
He came to 13 Investigates to blow the whistle.
"We're talking about a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme here that's taking place and no one is talking about it," he said.
The scheme involves illegal immigrants -- illegal immigrants who are filing tax returns.
How it works
The Internal Revenue Service says everyone who is employed in the United States – even those who are working here illegally – must report income and pay taxes. Of course, undocumented workers are not supposed to have a social security number. So for them to pay taxes, the IRS created what's called an ITIN, an individual taxpayer identification number. A 9-digit ITIN number issued by the IRS provides both resident and nonresident aliens with a unique identification number that allows them to file tax returns.
While that may have seemed like a good idea, it's now backfiring in a big way.
Each spring, at tax preparation offices all across the nation, many illegal immigrants are now eagerly filing tax returns to take advantage of a tax loophole, using their ITIN numbers to get huge refunds from the IRS.
The loophole is called the Additional Child Tax Credit. It's a fully-refundable credit of up to $1000 per child, and it's meant to help working families who have children living at home.
But 13 Investigates has found many undocumented workers are claiming the tax credit for kids who live in Mexico – lots of kids in Mexico.
"We've seen sometimes 10 or 12 dependents, most times nieces and nephews, on these tax forms," the whistleblower told Eyewitness News. "The more you put on there, the more you get back."
The whistleblower has thousands of examples, and he brought some of them to 13 Investigates. While identifying information such as names and addresses on the tax returns was redacted, it was still clear that the tax filers had received large tax refunds after claiming additional child tax credits for many dependents.
"Here's a return right here: we've got a $10,3000 refund for nine nieces and nephews," he said, pointing to the words "niece" and "nephew" listed on the tax forms nine separate times.
"We're getting an $11,000 refund on this tax return. There's seven nieces and nephews," he said, pointing to another set of documents. "I can bring out stacks and stacks. It's just so easy it's ridiculous."
20 kids = $30,000
WTHR spoke to several undocumented workers who confirmed it is easy.
They all agreed to talk with WTHR investigative reporter Bob Segall and a translator as long as WTHR agreed not to reveal their identity.
One of the workers, who was interviewed at his home in southern Indiana, admitted his address was used this year to file tax returns by four other undocumented workers who don't even live there. Those four workers claimed 20 children live inside the one residence and, as a result, the IRS sent the illegal immigrants tax refunds totaling $29,608.
13 Investigates saw only one little girl who lives at that address (a small mobile home). We wondered about the 20 kids claimed as tax deductions?
"They don't live here," said the undocumented worker. "The other kids are in their country of origin, which is Mexico."
He later explained none of the 20 children have ever visited the United States – let alone lived here.
So why should undocumented workers receive tax credits for children living in a foreign country, which is a violation of IRS tax rules?
"If the opportunity is there and they can give it to me, why not take advantage of it?" the worker said.
Other undocumented workers in Indiana told 13 Investigates the same thing. Their families are collecting tax refunds for children who do not live in this country. Several of the workers told WTHR they were told it was legal for them to claim the tax credit for a child who does not live in the United States.
IRS was repeatedly warned
"The magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially," said Russell George, the United States Department of Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
And he says the IRS has known about the problem for years.
George has repeatedly warned the IRS that additional child tax credits are being abused by undocumented workers. In 2009, his office released an audit report that showed ITIN tax filers received about $1 billion in additional child tax credits. Last year, the inspector general released a new report showing the problem now costs American tax payers more than $4.2 billion.
"Keep in mind, we're talking $4 billion per year," he said. "It's very troubling."
What George finds even more troubling is the IRS has not taken action despite multiple warnings from the inspector general.
"Millions of people are seeking this tax credit who, we believe, are not entitled to it," said the inspector general. "We have made recommendations to [IRS] as to how they could address this, and they have not taken sufficient action in our view to solve the problem."
Other information obtained from the TIGTA audits include:
· Claims for additional child tax credits by ITIN filers have skyrocketed during the past decade, from $161 million in 2001 to $4.2 billion in tax year 2010.
· Undocumented workers filed 3.02 million tax returns in 2010. 72% of those returns (2.18 million) claimed the additional child tax credit.
· In 2010, the IRS owed undocumented workers more in claimed additional child tax credits than it collected from those workers in taxes.
Agency responds – sort of
What does the IRS have to say about all this?
The agency sent WTHR a statement, defending its policy of paying tax credits to illegal immigrants.
"The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn't be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written," the statement said.
George disagrees with that position and believes the IRS should be doing more to prevent undocumented workers from getting billions in US tax dollars.
"The IRS is not doing something as simple as requesting sufficient documentation from people seeking this credit," he said. "Once the money goes out the door, it's nearly impossible for the IRS to get it back."
Over the past month, WTHR has tried to ask the IRS more questions about its efforts to prevent abuse involving additional child tax credits.
Despite repeated phone calls, e-mails and a visit to IRS headquarters in Washington, the agency said none of its 100,000 employees had time to meet with 13 Investigates for an interview. An IRS spokeswoman said all staff were too busy because of the tax filing deadline in mid-April.
Apparently, the IRS doesn't have time to respond to some tax preparers, either.
Last year, our whistleblower noticed dozens of undocumented workers had used phony documents and false income to claim tax credits. He reported all of it to the IRS.
"These were fraudulent, 100% fraudulent tax returns, but I got no response; absolutely none. We never heard a thing," he said. "To me, it's clear the IRS is letting this happen."
The IRS tells WTHR it can do nothing to change the current system unless it gets permission from Congress. In other words, according to the IRS, closing the loophole would require lawmakers to pass a new law specifically excluding illegal immigrants from claiming additional child tax credits.
The big questions now: Is Congress willing to do that?
What's next
Tomorrow night, 13 Investigates will show you how lawmakers are reacting to WTHR's investigation and what they plan to do about. You'll also hear why some undocumented workers say the credits are essential and should be left intact. Our investigation continues Friday night at 11:00.
Full statement to WTHR from the Internal Revenue Service
The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn't be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written. If the law were changed, the IRS would change its programs accordingly. The IRS disagrees with TIGTA's recommendation on requiring additional documentation to verify child credit claims. As TIGTA acknowledges in this report, the IRS does not currently have the legal authority to verify and disallow the Child Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit during return processing simply because of the lack of documentation. The IRS has procedures in place specifically for the evaluation of questionable credit claims early in the processing stream and prior to issuance of a refund. The IRS continues to work to refine and improve our processes.
Obama creates "green jobs"--in other countries
President Obama's reckless Stimulus spent billions of our tax dollars to create "green jobs"--in foreign countries like Mexico, Finland, and China.
The American people deserve to know what's going on--and that our tax dollars are being wasted on handouts to other countries, instead of creating jobs for 13 million unemployed Americans.
With the DNC admitting to their top donors that this ad could cause "serious damage" to the Left's agenda, and President Obama dedicating yet another TV ad to attacking AFP activists, they're more desperate than ever to keep the truth hidden.
There's a reason this ad has the Left shaking in fear. And with your help today, we can make sure this ad stays on the air and reach as many Americans as possible. After viewing "Obama's Wasteful Spending," make sure to send your most generous donation in the form to your right to keep this ad on the air:
The American people thought they were tuning into President Obama’s speech about the budget, the upcoming budge crisis, the debt ceiling battle and his solutions and a detailed plan, or at least an outline with some details. Instead we heard a campaign speech filled with broad stroke rhetoric and short on detail. At first I thought maybe I was being unfair, but when the Democratic strategist and commenter on the review panel with Shannon Breen, right after the speech started with, “Campaign On!!”, I realized that I was “on” as well.
The president took the time to try and regain control of his leadership deficit instead of focusing on on America’s budgetary deficit. He tried to connect with the “Middle Class” where he has lost support and with seniors, using scare tactics and double speak to address their fears. Obama also attacked Paul Ryan’s plan without using Ryan’s name.
We are beginning to hear all the right words, that will be forgotten or changed, once the election is over, as we heard from Obama in 2007 – 2008 on the campaign trail. The question is, “Will the American people fall of it again?” Pollster Frank Luntz says based on his polls the answer is: “NO” but the country is definitely divided.
He Still Wants to Spread the Wealth Around ... Rich 'Can Afford to Give Back a Little Bit More'
President Obama's Remarks on His Debt Plan:
"For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens. As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate. This is not because we begrudge those who've done well - we rightly celebrate their success. Rather, it is a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefitted most from our way of life can afford to give a bit more back. Moreover, this belief has not hindered the success of those at the top of the income scale, who continue to do better and better with each passing year."
"Of course, there will be those who disagree with my approach. Some will argue we shouldn't even consider raising taxes, even if only on the wealthiest Americans. It's just an article of faith for them. I say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. I don't need another tax cut. Warren Buffett doesn't need another tax cut. Not if we have to pay for it by making seniors pay more for Medicare. Or by cutting kids from Head Start. Or by taking away college scholarships that I wouldn't be here without. That some of you wouldn't be here without. And I believe that most wealthy Americans would agree with me. They want to give back to the country that's done so much for them. Washington just hasn't asked them to. "
Published April 13, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Drawing a clear line between his budget priorities and a proposal pitched by Republicans, President Obama outlined a new spending plan Wednesday which he claimed would cut the deficit by $4 trillion within 12 years with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy.
Obama, in a speech at George Washington University which amounted to an opening argument in the emerging 2012 presidential campaign, positioned his latest spending plan as a more "compassionate" alternative to one introduced last week by GOP Rep. Paul Ryan. He applauded Republicans for putting a plan on the table to address entitlements, but the praise stopped there.
"The way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we've known certainly in my lifetime," Obama said, calling their plan "deeply pessimistic." He suggested Republicans were giving up on basic functions of government.
"It's a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can't afford to fix them. If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can't afford to send them," Obama said of the Republican plan. "It's a vision that says America can't afford to keep the promise we've made to care for our seniors."
The president's proposal would deal with entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid, but avoid the major changes being pushed by Ryan. The president opposes turning Medicaid into a block-grant program for states and making Medicare seniors purchase government-subsidized insurance, as Ryan proposed. Rather, he vowed to make other changes he claims will extract more than $300 billion in savings from those Medicare and Medicaid over the next decade. Plus he pushed cuts in discretionary spending, including to defense.
The president drew several lines in the sand, as the latest round of the budget debate gets underway. Accusing Republicans of cutting services to seniors and poor children while cutting taxes for the rich, Obama said: "That's not right, and that's not going to happen as long as I'm president."
The White House, instead, has called for a "balance" between cuts and changes to the tax code. Though the administration refers to this as "tax reform," the plan includes a call for rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy -- meaning a tax hike for households making more than $250,000.
Republicans and Democrats had agreed to extend all the Bush tax cuts for two years, but Obama said Wednesday, "I refuse to renew them again" for the wealthy.
"The most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. I don't need another tax cut," he said.
Republicans, though, have roundly opposed a tax hike for anyone.
"I hope we don't have a re-do and a do-over of the tax agreement," House Republican Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said. "This was an issue that was litigated in the election last fall."
Having met with the president Wednesday morning before the speech, House Speaker John Boehner said that he made clear to the president that if the government is going to do something credible and meaningful, "raising taxes will not be part of that."
"The one area that we know we're not going to get very far on is that we're going to raise taxes on the very people we're counting on to ... create jobs," he said.
Obama's plan also called for a "failsafe" trigger, which would apply across-the-board spending cuts if the national debt, as a percentage of GDP, is not on the decline by 2014.
The speech effectively served as a counterproposal to the 2012 budget plan offered by Ryan. The chairman of the House Budget Committee has proposed a plan he claims will cut deficits by $4.4 trillion over the next decade, in large part by overhauling Medicare and Medicaid. He offsets the savings from some of the proposed spending cuts with tax cuts, leaving critics claiming his plan is out of balance, rewarding the wealthy while cutting programs for the poor.
While a rebuttal to Ryan's plan, Obama's speech is also a follow-up to the 2012 budget plan he put on the table earlier in the year.
Republicans have simultaneously welcomed Obama's entry into the latest debt debate while ridiculing him for waiting so long to do so.
"This is vintage Obama. He's been standing on the sidelines expecting the rest of us to make the tough decisions," Cantor said.
The new clash, just a week after the president announced he would seek re-election, ensures that the nation's fiscal health will be at the center of the 2012 presidential campaign. For the past two months, Obama has been arguing to protect his core spending priorities, including education and innovation. His turn to deficit reduction reflects the pressures he faces in a divided Congress and with a public increasingly anxious about the nation's debt, now exceeding $14 trillion.
The president is wading into a potential political thicket. Liberals fear he will propose cuts in prized Democratic programs like Medicare and Medicaid, the health care programs for older adults, the disabled and the poor, and in Social Security. Moderates worry that his plan could unravel bipartisan deficit-cutting negotiations. And Republicans already are poised to reject any proposal that includes tax increases.
A group of liberal Democrats on Wednesday described their latest budget plan, one they said was not necessarily meant as a substitute for the president's. The plan would make no cuts to entitlement programs, but would call for ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and rolling back the Bush tax cuts.
For the White House, the speech at George Washington University comes as Obama pushes Congress to raise the limit on the national debt, which will permit the government to borrow more and thus meet its financial obligations. The country will reach its debt limit of $14.3 trillion by May 16. The Treasury Department has warned that failure to raise it by midsummer would drive up the cost of borrowing and destroy the economic recovery.
Obama's speech comes just before Congress votes on a $38 billion package of spending cuts that averted a government shutdown last week. Despite widespread antipathy toward the deal in both parties, House Republicans and the White House predicted the plan, which covers spending for the next six months, would pass.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Raise ‘Em! Obama’s Grand Plan Includes Increasing Taxes
Video: Eat the Rich
Good Plan!! Republican Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal Is Brave, Radical, and Smart
From Congressman John Campbell's Laptop to Yours
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Quote of the Day: "The reality is, this budget resolution - and the Republican Party's policies - have instigated a dangerous spiral of deficits and debt that constitute nothing less than fiscal child abuse, because they will immorally force our children and grandchildren to pay our bills.” – May 19, 2006 House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Value for Money: Back when I was in the private sector and had an honest & productive job, we were always trying to offer the customer more value for their money. If we could keep the same product and lower the price, that provided more value to the customer. Or, if we could include more product or service for the same price, that also provided more value to the customer. People like getting value for their money.
I have noticed lately that politicians try to do the same thing. They (I know I should say we, but I really hate to call myself that) want to act like they are giving you all kinds of government services and benefits for a low price.....which means taxes. There's nothing wrong with the objective of providing more for less, but there are several backhanded ways that politicians go about doing it. Therein lies the difference:
Frankly, all of these approaches stink. Those of us in elected office should be up front about the cost of government and what taxes are necessary to pay for it. If we want to give you more value, then we should make the government program or service more efficient.
It is important to know that the Obama/Pelosi budget that just passed the House and Senate hides the ball in the most insidious of ways. This budget passed without a single Republican vote in either the House or the Senate and a number of moderate Democrats joined Republicans to vote ‘no.’ That demonstrates how extreme and how far left the Pelosi/Obama agenda is. The spending increases are so massive that it doubles the national debt in only 5 1/2 years and triples it in 10 years. The government can probably not even sell that much debt. We’ve already seen this scenario play out in the UK and Germany, where issuances of their national debt failed to attract enough buyers. If the President wanted to balance his budget, he would need to increase every federal tax on every American by at least 30%. That means an increase on your payroll taxes, gas taxes, income taxes, alternative minimum taxes, corporate tax, capital gains tax, cigarette tax, excise taxes, etc by 30% each. This is in addition to what he has already proposed.
This budget already contains a number of tax increases, including a "carbon tax" called "cap and trade," which will likely double everyone's electricity and heating bills. But Obama and Pelosi clearly do not want you to know what it will take to pay for all the government stuff they want to give you. By the way, the two Republican budget alternatives (which failed to pass of course) are not rocket science. They simply don't increase spending or taxes and, therefore, don't have as much debt or deficits. It is really quite simple.
You can confiscate all income over $250,000, and it still won't be enough to pay for all the socialized government services that the President wants to do. So, he will have to tax the middle class in order to give services to......the middle class. This is what is so absurd about his plans. It is universally acknowledged that it makes no sense to tax someone in order to have the government give them that same money back in the form of some government program. Government is too inefficient. This is why socialism fails because this widespread inefficiency makes the entire economy weaker and what results is more unemployment, less opportunity, and a lower standard of living for everyone.
I want to give you more for your money. We all do. But we should neither trick you, nor hide the ball through earmarks or pretend like someone else will pay for your free stuff. YOU will pay for YOUR free stuff one way or another. We should be honest about the taxes necessary and work to make government more efficient, not bigger.
Until next week, I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the countries present problems and it is true that President Obama inherited the present crisis, but he and his party have made it worse and truly have committed generational theft, now that they are in power. The Dems have gone wild with Pelosi, Reid and Obama all in step.
And, you can't keep blaming it on the last guy if you add Trillions to the debt!!
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warns that conservatives could leave the GOP and form a third party in 2012 if Republicans don’t do more to rein in government spending. “If the Republicans can’t break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third party movement in 2012, Gingrich said during an address to students at the College of the Ozarks in Missouri. Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama’s “monstrosity of a budget,” but acknowledged that Republicans are also to blame for the huge increase in federal spending, CNN reported. “Remember, everything Obama’s doing, Bush started last year,” he said. “If you’re going to talk about big spending, the mistakes of the Bush administration last year are fully as bad as the mistakes of Obama’s first two, three months.” Gingrich predicted that “fed up” Americans will instigate a “nationwide rebellion at the polls,” and said the increased government spending under Obama is “literally irrational.” © 2009 Newsmax Related Articles:Gingrich Warns of Conservative 3rd Party in 2012
Friday, April 3, 2009 8:53 AM
