White House Spending Other People's Money Society, Gives About $20,000 of Taxpayer Money to Each Asylum Seeker and Refugee

[From article]
Federal taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $20,000 just to settle each refugee and asylum seeker, who are then immediately eligible for cash welfare, food stamps, housing and medical aid, according to anew report on the "refugee industry."
The report provided federal budget figures showing that the government spends $19,884 on each refugee the U.S. takes in.
[. . .]



The report from the Negative Population Growth Inc. said that the U.S. is currently accepting about 95,000 refugees and asylees. That is in addition to the over 500,000 legal and illegal immigrants coming to the U.S.
It focused on the industry created to accept the $1.8 billion in federal support to help refugees settle and sign up for further cash awards from Uncle Sam. The refugee agencies get a small portion, or about $1,875 per refugee they help. The rest goes to the United Nations, which helps to determine eligible refugees, and state agencies.
The State Department spends about $1.28 billion, and Health and Human Services another $609 million.



From the report:
Two federal agencies sustain the refugee industry:
The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), in the State Department, supports a major share of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' budget. In FY2014 this support came to $1.28 billion, making the U.S. by far the largest donor to the UNHCR. Some of this money is supposedly used to expand the capacity of countries outside the U.S. to absorb refugees – potentially reducing the share of refugees coming to the U.S. Despite this, more refugees come to the U.S. than to the rest of the world combined: 67% of UNHCR-referred refugees settled in the U.S. in 2014.
[. . .]
Once settled, the refugees are eligible for further federal support and most take it, said the report.
— 47 percent of refugee households received cash assistance.
— 74 percent of refugees were on food stamps.
— 56 percent are on Medicaid.— 22 percent receiving housing assistance.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feds-spend-nearly-20000-to-settle-every-refugee/article/2593331


Feds spend nearly $20,000 to settle every refugee

By PAUL BEDARD (@SECRETSBEDARD) 

6/8/16 11:20 AM

Cambridge, MA Politicians Boast of How They Spend Other People's Money

Taxpayers fund the Cambridge chapter of the Spending Other People's Money Society. Politicians speak as if it is their money. Money was saved in semi secret accounts by 31-year City Manager (now at Harvard University) Robert Healy. The weekly agenda reveals dozens of accounts from and to which money is regularly transfered. A sort of multiple card monte game which councilors ignore. If money is available, politicians will spend it. They never return money to taxpayers. Rejoicing in extra money, they do things like, "needs-assessment" Councillor Mazen said, adding “We’re seeing a huge change in the educational equity organizing.” Huh? Taking from taxpayers and giving to who? The report says wishfully, "The City Council plays a smaller role in the budget approval process than its does in other local affairs." Huh? Under the Plan E form of government the Council hires a Manager, has legislative power, and approves curb cuts. MGL Chapter 43, Sec. 107 says, "The city council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the city manager either publicly or privately. Any member of the city council who violates, [. . .] any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine [or] imprisonment, [. . .] or both, and [. . .] shall [be removed from office] and [. . .] never again be eligible for any office or position, elective or otherwise,"



[From article]

"We’ve managed to increase services and not cut services and still keep property taxes low,” Finance Committee Chair and Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern said following Thursday's City Council Finance Committee meeting. “It is a pretty remarkable accomplishment in this day and age.”
[. . .]
“The non-profit coalition coming together to do this needs-assessment is something I’ve been talking about under other terminology since the beginning,” Councillor Nadeem A. Mazen said. “We’re seeing a huge change in the educational equity organizing.”
Property taxes remained steady this year thanks to what McGovern called “free cash,” the spending of a reserve of money saved for emergencies like floods or for other projects.
“It’s about $195-or-so million,” McGovern said. “It’s really from just over the years our pretty sound fiscal management where they’ve put money on the side.”
[. . .]



The City Council plays a smaller role in the budget approval process than its does in other local affairs. While the Council ultimately has final say, City Manager Richard C. Rossi and his office were responsible for crafting the more than 400-page document. Despite this lack of direct input, Mazen claimed the Council still holds some sway over what goes into the budget.
“There’s a little bit of Ouija clout-pressure on the budget where things I’ve advocated for tend to find their way into the budget,” Mazen said. “The Council should have several looks at the budget before we see a hard-copy and a couple looks at working collaboratively as a council to define the budget ahead of time.”
Harvard pays property taxes on non-educational buildings and provides extra funds to Cambridge in lieu of taxes. MIT and Cambridge have a similar relationship. Not including payments in lieu of taxes, the two universities make up over nine percent of the city’s tax base.
[. . .]
While not included in the FY 17 budget, earlier this week Rossi and Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced a joint effort to provide $75 million for the long-delayed Green Line extension project in northern Cambridge.
“Somerville and Cambridge will stand with the Commonwealth to advance the state of the art,” Rossi and Curtatone wrote in a statement. “We do so with the expectation that this is truly a new precedent for statewide policy, and that our communities will not be held to higher standards than other Massachusetts municipalities seeking state and federal financing for roadway, transit or other infrastructure projects.”
Rossi pledged $25 million from Cambridge, however such a plan must still be approved by the City Council. In a letter to the Council, Rossi said he would suggest the matter be forwarded to the City Council’s Transportation and Public Utilities Committee.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/5/9/cambridge-new-budget/

Cambridge FY17 Budget Includes Millions for Local Renovations
By JOSHUA J. FLORENCE

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
May 8, 2016

* * *



Leave it to politicians to take credit for the work of others. Taxpayers make it possible for the spending other people's money society to spend taxpayer money. As Vice Chairman of the Cambridge chapter of the SOPMS Councilor McGovern not opnly does nto thank taxpayers, but he acts as if it was his ideas where to spend the money. add more

[From article]
I personally am excited to see is the $1.3 million that will go toward moving Cambridge closer to affordable, universal, high-quality early childhood education for all children.
[. . .]
There isn’t a person in our city administration who doesn’t understand and isn’t committed to finding ways to maintain affordable housing in Cambridge, and we will continue to direct funds to try and stabilize an ever-increasing housing market that is leading to higher rent and home ownership prices, not just in Cambridge but in the entire Metro Boston area.
[. . .]
continued funding to address our homelessness and opioid crisis
[. . .]
we know that we have more work to do in order to be the socially just community we want to be.
[. . .]
What makes Cambridge different, is that our financial stability, combined with our commitment as a community to support one another, puts us in a position to address these complicated issues and to put resources behind them to move our city forward for all of our residents.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160505/NEWS/160508264

Vice Mayor column: Cambridge pulls off difficult balance with budget
By Marc McGovern
Posted May. 5, 2016 at 12:13 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Cambridge Spending Other People's Money Society 2016 Campaign

Politicians enjoy taking credit for the work of others. Taxpayers make it possible for the Spending Other People's Money Society to spend money. Vice Chairman of Cambridge chapter of the SOPMS does not thank taxpayers. He acts as if it was his money to spend. Troubling ideas in his essay include: "universal, high-quality early childhood education for all children." That moves closer to where government bureaucrats rear children. This politician supports more scrutiny by government psychiatrists. He speaks for everyone. How does he know that? Cambridge taxpayers are supporting neighboring cities and towns? 

The Vice Mayor  mentions "homelessness and [the] opioid crisis." How much money is spent on studies, plans, and providing blankets rather than homes to these people? What about the tsunami of illegal drugs across the open southern border? Who are the "we?" What is "socially just?" Who is included in "one another?" and "all our residents?" Some Cambridge citizens  remain outside the interests of this globally concerned politician, who boasts of how he spends US, MA and Cambridge taxpayer funds. No mention of billion dollar online businesses making money from civilian messages and searches. No mention of weak security for online medical records. Why does clueless government fail to protect citizens from harm?  

[From article]
I personally am excited to see is the $1.3 million that will go toward moving Cambridge closer to affordable, universal, high-quality early childhood education for all children.
[. . .]
There isn’t a person in our city administration who doesn’t understand and isn’t committed to finding ways to maintain affordable housing in Cambridge, and we will continue to direct funds to try and stabilize an ever-increasing housing market that is leading to higher rent and home ownership prices, not just in Cambridge but in the entire Metro Boston area.
[. . .]
continued funding to address our homelessness and opioid crisis
[. . .]
we know that we have more work to do in order to be the socially just community we want to be.
[. . .]
What makes Cambridge different, is that our financial stability, combined with our commitment as a community to support one another, puts us in a position to address these complicated issues and to put resources behind them to move our city forward for all of our residents.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160505/NEWS/160508264

Vice Mayor column: Cambridge pulls off difficult balance with budget
By Marc McGovern
Posted May. 5, 2016 at 12:13 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Curbing Waste Of Taxpayer Funds Strongly Opposed By The Spending Other People's Money Society

[From article]
The Government Accountability Office has released its annual report: "Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits." As usual, no one is paying attention.
But people should. The GAO is the premiere government watchdog, and it has identified 100 actions that could be taken by Congress that would save the taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars.
Washington Free Beacon:
The federal watchdog’s 2016 annual reportidentified nearly 100 actions Congress or the executive branch could take to make government run more efficiently, including eliminating $1.3 billion in disability insurance overpayments and more than $100 billion in savings from the Pentagon by sharing how much excess ammunition it has with other agencies rather than destroying it.
[. . .]
Among the report’s findings included $388 million that could have been saved between 2013 and 2015 by consolidating federal government cell phone contracts. In a GAO report last year, only five of the 15 agencies it reviewed knew how many cell phones and plans it had.
[. . .]



The $1.3 billion in disability insurance overpayments is on top of the $2.4 billion the Social Security Administration lost by waiving overpayment debts over the past 10 years.
[. . .]
This brings to mind that wonderful quote from the movie Contact as the industrialist informs Dr. Arroway that another alien machine has been built. "First rule of government spending: why have one when you can have two at twice the price?"
And that appears to be the mindset of government agencies. For example, 18 federal programs deal with nutrition education and assistance. There are a couple of dozen job training programs spread out over several agencies. Consolidating these programs could save the government billions.
Before a single new dollar of federal spending is authorized, these duplicate programs should be eliminated or consolidated as much as possible. But there appears to be very little effort on the part of government to deal with this waste and inefficiency, because the bureaucratic culture won't allow it. It's just not in their DNA to eliminate programs and possibly eliminate jobs in government.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/04/report_feds_waste_hundreds_of_billions_of_dollars_on_duplicate_programs_and_inefficiencies.html

April 14, 2016
Report: Feds waste hundreds of billions of dollars on duplicate programs and inefficiencies
By Rick Moran

Wealthy Residents Fleeing New Jersey

[From article]
David Tepper was once New Jersey’s richest resident. The Short Hills-based hedge-fund manager with an estimated net worth of $11 billion didn’t fall victim to market forces. Rather, he left Jersey entirely, joining dozens of wealthy individuals who have set up shop in Florida, a state with no income tax. Jersey is set to see a $162 million drop-off in tax collections this fiscal year—much of it, according to press reports, the result of Tepper’s exit. Now, Trenton lawmakers must once again scramble to balance the Garden State’s troubled budget.
[. . .]
The study also found that the income gap jumped appreciably between 2004 and 2005—that is, after Governor Jim McGreevey hiked income taxes on those earning more than $500,000 a year. McGreevey’s successor, Jon Corzine, subsequently added another temporary surcharge on wealthy taxpayers. In 2010, the last year that it was in effect, the net loss from outflow of tax dollars increased sharply again. Current governor Chris Christie let the Corzine surcharge expire—even though the Democratic legislature keeps voting to bring it back—but at 8.97 percent, Jersey’s top income-tax rate remains one of the nation’s highest.
[. . .]



Jersey’s tax-and-spend politicians and the interest groups that support them— notably public sector unions—consistently argue that taxes don’t drive people away. “There is not a shred of credible evidence pointing to estate taxes or income taxes as the reason these people take their income elsewhere—there’s only myth and anecdote,” said the head of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank, earlier this year. But that’s true in New Jersey only if you ignore what people actually say. A 2014 Monmouth College poll found that nearly half of all residents said they would leave the state if they could. About three in ten listed Jersey’s high taxes as the primary reason they wanted to go. Ina recent Gallup poll, Jersey tied with Connecticut as the top state that residents say they want to leave—at 46 percent of those polled. “Even after controlling for various demographic characteristics including age, gender, race and ethnicity, and education, there is still a strong relationship between total state tax burden and desire to leave one’s current state of residence,” noted Gallup.
[. . .]
McGreevey himself once increased the annual budget by a whopping 17 percent. Corzine promised spending and pension reform but delivered neither. The taxes kept piling up on residents, including a boost in the state’s sales tax and a tax that people selling their homes have to pay for no other reason than that the state desperately needs money. Today, New Jersey collects more money per resident than just about every other state, but it still can’t balance its budget. It doesn’t help that the state’s economy has been underperforming for more than a decade. Businesses consistently rank it as one of the places where they are least likely to expand.
[. . .]
Ironically, many tax-and-spend interests in the Garden State won’t be sad to see Tepper go, despite the riches he takes with him. That’s because he put a big chunk of his wealth into education reform, battling the teachers’ union and supporting candidates who preached such heresies as tougher standards for teacher evaluations. One hyperactive critic even accused Tepper of trying to destroy public education so that he could engineer a “Wall Street takeover” of schools. According to press reports, Tepper displayed a pair of brass unmentionables in his office to symbolize the kind of moxie one needed to operate in the high-stakes hedge-fund world—and to battle public unions. But math has triumphed over moxie, at least in New Jersey.

http://city-journal.org/html/past-teppering-point-14360.html

Past the Teppering Point
New Jersey’s richest resident flees to Florida.
Steven Malanga
April 11, 2016

Privileged Harvard Law School Students Demand More Pizza Money

This report explains the pervasive anger among the oppressed law school students. Only $2,000 per semester (or for a year) for Justice for Palestine? These students learned well from Yassar Arafat. And only $8,000 for human rights? No wonder these privileged students are so angry. How many people without homes could be housed with that pizza money? Is this where the Spending Other People's Money Society teaches its newest members how to spend?

[From article]
Justice for Palestine members were initially allocated $500 from the DOS Grant Fund, and after petitioning for more, they received an additional $2,000. Leora A. Smith, one of the organizer’s of Harvard Human Rights Journal’s annual symposium, said they received $1,000 of the $7,000 Milbank gave them in past years.
[. . .]
Advocates for Human Rights applied for $8,000 from Milbank for the spring semester,

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/18/firm-discontinues-HLS-student-funding/

Corporate Firm Discontinues Law Student Funding Amidst Controversy
The withdrawal of funding has some questioning the influence of corporate donors at the school
February 18, 2016

Christmas Spirit Alive In Cambridge, MA

If only politicians would resign from the Spending Other People's Money Society, stop wasting taxpayer funds and provide homes for these people. It is not a new problem. Instead they focus on supporting unscreened migrants from nations dedicated to destroying the United States and killing Americans.  

[From article]
More than 2,300 volunteers filled City Hall, the Senior Center, the YWCA and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Everything donated, sorted and made – food, clothing, blankets, scarves, valentines, books, emergency and toiletry kits – is being distributed to people in need through more than 75 local non-profit organizations and service agencies and reaching nearly 10,000 people.
Thanks also to the city of Cambridge, the YWCA and St. Peter’s Church for providing us with critical support.
[. . .]
We would like to give a special shout-out to the Cambridge Youth Council who distributed empty grocery bags in Huron Village and Haggerty neighborhoods two weeks ago and then on MLK Day picked up more than 350 bags brimming with much-needed food to be distributed to 15 Cambridge food pantries.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160206/letter-many-helping-hands-thanks-volunteers

LETTER: Many Helping Hands thanks volunteers
Posted Feb. 6, 2016 at 12:30 PM
To the editor:
— Many Helping Hands 365: Mari Badger, Elizabeth Bartle, Leslie Bliss, Polly Carpenter, Lori Damon, Jan Devereux, Lisa Eustis, Jessica Lander, Lori Lander, Ann Lawson, Diane Norris, Rahel O’More and many more helping hands

MBTA Spends Other People's Money

WCVB reported in February 2015, "In 2014, more than 2,000, or 27 percent, of the 7,400 employees earned more than $100,000 a year." and "Last year total employee earnings were more than $500,000,000 -- an 18 percent jump from 2013" In May 2015, WCVB, "There are 46 MBTA managers enjoying this take-home car perk, which is costing taxpayers and riders more than$1 million. And that doesn't include the cost of free gas, insurance, maintenance and repairs they also receive." Now they report "the MBTA's financial control board voted to spend up to $6 million to study the project [. . .] to try and [. . .] save the $4.7 billion expansion." Are there no taxpayer funded employees (among the estimated 1800) who are able to do the job? How many employees are ranking members of the Spending Other People's Money Society?



[From article]
But Monday, the MBTA's financial control board voted to spend up to $6 million to study the project.
Three firms will come up with a redesign and a new price tag to try and slash costs and save the $4.7 billion expansion.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160126/NEWS/160127072

Report shows chronic Red Line issues
By WCVB
Posted Jan. 26, 2016 at 10:58 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Politicians Focused On Getting In On The Action, Not Serving Constituents, Voters and Taxpayers

It is curious that the proposed solution is to place a computer between people who are unable to discuss issues rationally. Computers are dumb machines, and cannot solve this problem. Too many people think they are omniscient. They do not believe decisions should be based on facts instead of propaganda. Most egregious example of dysfunction is the ACLU board member in Colorado who called for killing Trump supporters. The former defender of protected speech has become a censor of speech. Too many dumbed down politicians are role models for bad behavior, beginning with the legend in his own mind in the White House. Then there are charming and thoughtful Iranian and Muslim power holders.



[From article]
Will politicians even care, considering many are what David Wellington, the author of The Cyclops Initiative, describes as, “having disdain for the American people. Many politicians don’t see their constituencies as human beings, but rather as numbers on a page. For career politicians, on both sides of the aisle, it’s about how much power they can gain and not about how to help people. Politicians seem to forget that they are supposed to represent the people.”

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/debate_without_pain.html

January 9, 2016
Debate Without Pain
By Elise Cooper

New US House Speaker Fails To Stand Up To Democratic Party Abuses, Breaks Promises, Supports Extreme Budget Spending

[From article]
The Republican Party might as well close up shop and merge with the Democrats. Not as a merger of equals, but more of a capitulation, a surrender, a sellout. There is no need for two parties in Washington DC as only one party is relevant in terms of advancing an agenda. The irony is that the agenda driving party is in the minority and despite losing badly in two midterm elections, the Democrats are still running Congress.
[. . .]



The deal suspends the debt limit until 2017, well after the presidential election, effectively taking unsustainable debt off the table as a campaign issue. Obama doubled the national debt? So what? Republicans are helping him. Don’t worry though, the spending cuts will take place in 2025, when most of the current Congress voting for this spending spree will either be retired or working as K Street lobbyists.
[. . .]
After voting in solid majorities in both the House and Senate, it’s business as usual, as if Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were still in charge. Perhaps they are.
What has this latest budget deal done to thwart the Obama agenda? Very little.
[. . .]



Republican establishment types wonder why Donald Trump is leading in the polls. Trump is filling the leadership vacuum left by Ryan, Boehner, and McConnell. “We the people” see the GOP morphing into the DNC, despite promises to the contrary over the past four years. The smart set at Fox News can’t understand why “we the people” aren’t flocking to Jeb or Marco, and instead supporting racist/fascist Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
These two may be the last and only hope of maintaining a two-party system. If the establishment manages to destroy Trump and Cruz, then it’s lights out for the Republican party. The base will stay home and the Founding Fathers will roll over in their graves. As for any future support for the GOP, my answer be a Mrs. Clinton refrain, “What difference does it make?” The Republican Party will be six feet under and we will have one-party rule in Washington, DC.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/rip_republican_party_.html

December 19, 2015
RIP Republican Party
By Brian Joondeph

US Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL): Omnibus [Budget Bill] Explains Why ‘Voters Are In Open Rebellion’

SenatorSessions

Published on Dec 16, 2015
BACKGROUND:
In the dead of night after 2am this morning, Congressional leadership unveiled a more than 2,000 page 'omnibus' year-end funding bill which would, among other things: fully-fund the President's refugee expansion; fully-fund sanctuary cities; fully-fund the resettlement of illegal aliens youth and their families crossing the border; lock-in tax credits for illegal aliens; and quadruple the highly controversial H-2B foreign worker visa being used to replace Americans as truck drivers, construction workers, theme park employees, and in blue collar jobs across the nation.

Sessions, the Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, issued a statement about the bill as it speeds to a vote before it can be read, observing in part that GOP voters: "have come to believe that their party’s elites are not only uninterested in defending their interests but – as with this legislation, and fast-tracking the President’s international trade pact – openly hostile to them." On the floor today, Sessions further reminded his colleagues that their duty is the American people - not special interests, immigration advocacy groups, or lobbyists for narrow business concerns.

Sessions observed that - as the omnibus paves the way for a huge immigration increase beyond today's record-breaking highs - that more than 8 in 10 American voters want the level of immigration in American frozen or cut, and yet the GOP-led Congress is about to surge it even higher.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau - even without these increases - immigration will add the population equivalent of 1 new Los Angeles to the country each 3 years.

The U.S. has admitted 59 million immigrants since 1965. As historical context, after the numerically-smaller 1880-1920 immigration wave, future immigration was reduced to promote wage growth for US-born and immigrant workers: there was zero net growth in the foreign-born population over the course of the next half-century (in fact, it declined markedly). Now, after five decades of unprecedented immigration, the U.S. is on path to add another five decades of unprecedented immigration on top of that - setting new all-time records every single decade to come.

https://youtu.be/PBqrWL3h9-g

Controlling How Others Spend Their Money

Prof. Larry "On Leave" Lessig does not want government control of how the Kochs spend their money. He wants to approve how they do it. That's not tyranny. It is responsible oversight by a morally and intellectually superior Harvard Law School professor. Who could object to that? George Soros can spend his money however he wants, without anyone's approval.
"On Leave" Lessig did not learn from the current Harvard Law School graduate, President, who does not need to convince congress to support his common sense reforms. He just needs to issue executive orders. Then he can resign as originally planned. No need to spend one's time in dusty, dirty Washington, District of Criminals, when he can be in upscale Cambridge, MA.

[From article]
I will work with Congress to assure they are implemented. I will defend them against legislative or legal attack.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/19/lessig-alter-campaign-strategy/

In Change of Plan, Lessig Says He Would Stay on As President
By MEG P. BERNHARD
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
October 19, 2015

Updated: Purging Memory of Wasting Cambridge, MA Taxpayer Funds, The Spending Other People's Money Society

Posted October 4, 2015 9:02 PM ET; Last updated October 11, 2015 9:35 PM ET



This article was rewritten, and the original one deleted. The new URL and headline is posted below. The new explanation is that the Mayor formed the search committee with the help of the consulting firm. Does that mean they volunteered with no pay? The Mayor did not say. Is this another example of history being rewritten by government to purge inconvenient facts from memory? Is the Memory Hole open and active again in Cambridge? My comment (in red just below this) was deleted along with the original report, press release. Both URLs lead to the new edited, rewritten article

Appears to be a press release from someone. The decision to appoint 19 members of the community to be the search committee sounds questionable. No union leaders? No parents? No teachers? Politicians? Was it necessary to pay a consultant an unknown amount but surely more than $50,000 to come up with this idea? Are school committee members unable to dream up this uncomplicated protocol? City officials have money to hire consultants to advise this common sense structure, but do not have funds to house people without homes. They have taxpayer funds for illegal immigrants who say they are refugees, but not for veterans and American citizens who did no wrong. Who are these officials working for? 

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20151004/NEWS/150939683

Cambridge superintendent search committee formed
Posted Oct. 4, 2015 at 1:15 PM
Cambridge Chronicle

* * *
comment on school super search committee deleted?
comparing articles.
press release changed?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20151011/NEWS/151005747

Cambridge superintendent search committee formed
Posted Oct. 11, 2015 at 11:15 AM

Cambridge, MA Celebrates One View of Spending Other People's Money For Planned Parenthood

Cecile Richards Earns $500,000 per year spending other people's money

Great report about one side of the issue. Isn't that called propaganda? US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Cecile Richards ($590,000 salary) why she apologized for statements on the videos if they were not true. She dissembled. See US House Committee hearing on C-span, Planned Parenthood Government Funding Sep 29, 2015. Committee Chairman Chaffetz (R-UT) revealed taxpayer millions spent on lobbying, first class travel, salaries, foreign aid. Interesting listening. Regarding the videos, see

http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/29/forensic-analysis-planned-parenthood-videos-are-authentic/


Forensic Analysis: Planned Parenthood Videos Are ‘Authentic’
Kate Scanlon / @scanlon_kate
Daily Signal
September 29, 2015

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/30/cambridge-planned-parenthood-pinkout/

Cambridge Participates in ‘Pink Out Day’ for Planned Parenthood
By THEO C LEBRYK, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Harvard Crimson
September 30, 2015

White House and Career Politicians Thrive Spending Other People's Money

[From article]
If history is any guide, approximately 91 percent of this latest huddled refuse of your teeming shores will go onto welfare the moment they set foot here in the Great Satan.
That’s the good news. The bad news is, at least a few of this 91 percent of foreigners on welfare will also become terrorists. The even worse news is, some of them already are terrorists. They’re taking their cues from the Obama administration, and never letting a crisis go to waste, so they’ll sneak in to kill us.
[. . .]



So many of the proponents of wide-open borders and more Mideast “refugees” have so much to … share. Vice President Biden not only has the 11.8-acre Naval Observatory, but also his own $2.8-million oceanfront mansion in Greenville, Del. Joe’s done well by doing good these last 43 years at the public trough.
There are also the Chevy Chase, Md., homes of U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and MSNBC anchor Comrade Chris Matthews.
Hillary Clinton said flooding the nation with Syrians is “a good start.” She’s got the Georgetown mansion on
Embassy Row and the mansion she and Bill bought in Chappaqua, N.Y., for $2.85 million when they were “dead broke,” which was why they could only put down an $885,000 cash down payment. If possible, Chappaqua is even whiter than Chevy Chase.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2015/09/carr_how_about_nantucket_plenty_of_prime_real_estate_for

Carr: How about Nantucket? Plenty of prime real estate for huddled Syrian masses
Friday, September 25, 2015
By: Howie Carr
Boston Herald

Cambridge, MA Conference on Homelessness Determines Problem Needs More Study

Priority of Larry Oaks should be encouraged. Sandler recognizes limiting discussion to Cambridge may be misguided. Other cities have more accessible housing, e.g., Lowell, Lawrence, Fall River, Brockton, Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield. Cunningham mentions "the voice of the Community." Who speaks better for people without homes, than those people? Only ownership is permanent housing. Even that can be ended by government taking. Councilor McGovern remains focused on delivering taxpayer funded health care to persons without homes. More business for the human services industry. Disappointing conclusion for another review of the findings. How many times must housing persons without homes be studied? How much time and money is wasted studying this problem instead of stopping the waste of taxpayer funds and housing people. Stop the nonsense. Here's an action plan. Get people off the streets.    



[From article]
Larry Oaks, director of Corporation for Supportive Housing, [. . .] said. “Who can address their other issues when they’re living on the street?”
[. . .]
One idea was to offer landlords more incentives for providing affordable housing, possibly through the city’s housing department.
[. . .]
Bill Cunningham expressed a concern that the meetings had not adequately represented “the voice of the community.”
[. . .]
Questions arose as to whether the housing would be transitional or permanent housing; whether there was “flexible funding” for it, so people can get in without waiting for months; and whether there was funding for services to go along with the housing.
[. . .]
“The homeless are mobile, so you need to help people beyond the borders of Cambridge,” said Martha Sandler, executive director of On the Rise,
[. . .]



Another speaker added that suburban towns could be doing more to provide more low-income housing.
[. . .]
Mark McGovern, director of Cambridge-Somerville Health Care for the Homeless, strongly recommended “low-barrier” shelters where homeless individuals can bring their belongings, pets and partners. There, he said, visitors could also access appropriate health services.
[. . .]
“early warning systems” can help in prevention. Something as simple as someone not paying their rent could be a sign. Also assessments are needed of who needs what kind of assistance or intervention, and if it should be short or long term.
“People don’t know who to call or what services to ask for. We need to help them do that,” said Oaks.
Ultimately, though, the goal to is “move people on,” according to Oaks, so they are back in the mainstream.



The next steps in the process of helping the city’s homeless will be to review all the findings from last week and to draft an action plan, according to Shelly Chevalier, planning and development manager for the city’s Human Services Programs.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150923/NEWS/150928267

Housing challenges take focus at Cambridge Charrette on Homelessness
By Paul Angiolillo
Cambridge (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Sep. 23, 2015 at 2:10 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

High Maintenance Massachusetts Spending Other People's Money Campaign Thrives

Massachusetts State Auiditor
Photo by: Arthur Pollock

Are these high maintenance women?

[From article]
State Auditor Suzanne Bump since taking office has racked up nearly $30,000 in travel expenses, including jetting off to 16 out-of-state conferences, booking hotel rooms for events only miles from her home and attending funeral services for fallen Bay State firefighters, a Herald review found.
Taxpayers have picked up the bill for $29,451 in Bump travel costs since January 2011, when she took office, according to a Herald review of data obtained through a public records request. That just about matches the combined $30,000 travel expenses rung up by two attorneys general, two state treasurers, the secretary of state and the inspector general during that same period, the review found.
Bump’s expenses also include the $14.40 she was reimbursed to attend the funerals of two Boston firefighters who perished in a 2014 Back Bay blaze, and $1.80 to drive to a Goodwill Thanksgiving event in Roxbury.
[. . .]
Former Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan, now at the Pioneer Institute, criticized Bump’s expenses, saying, “I really think the office has to focus within the borders of Massachusetts and get the job done. The best way to save taxpayer money is, don’t spend on yourself. The fact that the auditor is spending far more than the other constitutional officers should be a signal that the auditor ought to rein it in and focus taking care of business back home.”
Bump, in an interview in her office yesterday, said she goes to “great pains” to ensure that travel costs come at “the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/09/state_auditor_racks_up_hefty_travel_bill

State auditor racks up hefty travel bill
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
By: Matt Stout
Boston Herald

* * *

Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General
Photo by: Stuart Cahill

[From article]

Attorney General Maura Healey has literally put on the Ritz while charging nearly $7,000 in travel expenses to taxpayers during her eight months in office, twice flying off for conferences, including a stay at the Ritz-Carlton in the nation’s capital, a Herald 
review shows.
Healey’s travels put her on pace to outdo her predecessor, former AG Martha Coakley, whose travel costs totaled $18,600 in her second term,
[. . .]
Healey has jetted off to conferences for the National Association of Attorney Generals in Washington, D.C., where she stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, and San Diego, where she checked into the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. Her office said she stayed at both hotels because that’s where the conferences were held.
[. . .]
Other constitutional 
officers have spent far less in recent years.
• Secretary of State William F. Galvin has dropped just $2,000 on travel since 2011, all for flights to testify before congressional panels in Washington, according to a spokesman.
Unlike Auditor Suzanne Bump, who is reimbursed for travel in her personal car, Galvin has a state-leased car. Healey, like Coakley, uses a state trooper escort to travel in-state.
• Former state Treasurer Steve Grossman charged $720 for Amtrak tickets, the only expense the treasury could find from his four years beyond his use of a state-leased vehicle.
Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg has spent roughly $1,000 to attend a conference during her first eight months, but she uses her personal car and has not charged for reimbursements.
Inspector General Glenn Cunha, while not a constitutional officer, is charged with finding spending abuse just like the auditor. He has spent $670 in three years since his appointment, including on one conference to New Orleans. He also uses his personal car, for which he’s charged for reimbursements twice.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/09/ag_s_expenses_on_pace_to_exceed_predecessor_s

AG’s expenses on pace
to exceed predecessor’s
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
By Matt Stout
Boston Herald

Cambridge MA Politicians and Journalists Speak For Others

In this interview, media darling (regularly cited in local papers and on public television), and City Councilor Nadeem Mazem, indicates he suffers from a common syndrome of Cambridge politicians. He says, " everyone knows it [minimum wage] should be $15 an hour." Really? Everyone? How does he know that? He adds, "everyone [in the Boston area] secretly feels in their gut that this just isn’t going to happen," Again. How does he know what people feel? Especially if it is a secret? He's not the only one who speaks for others, with or without their permission. In a recent interview published in the Cambridge Chronicle, City Councilor Carlone does the same thing. See at this link.

http://enoughroom.blogspot.com/2015/08/cambridge-ma-city-councilor-speaks-for.html

They are not the only ones. Former City Councilor Jim Braude used to do the same thing when he was a councilor. He also did it on his radio show. I asked in a phone call why he did that. It did not stop him. He continues to speak for others. Now he does a local PBS television show and continues the tradition. He added an upgrade. He has three guests for a seven minute segment. That allows for the four of them including the host less than two minutes each to discuss complex issues. In order to extend the time he asks a question of his guests and then cuts them off saying, "I got it." Meaning he is so smart he knows what the guest is going to say. Can he read minds? Is that why he speaks for others? Can the other city councilors also read minds?

Returning to this interview, Councilor Mazem refers to "high value construction that buoys our economy and empowers our local government to do incredible things for education." If that's true why are the educational results of all that money so disappointing? He adds, "we have academic powerhouses, we have everything we need to empower the upper middle class and above." He does not mention teachers unions and other government unions. Public policy is hindered by these unions and none of the politicians speak about them except to boast that they negotiated with the unions for the city. Why is that? Do politicians fear criticizing unions?

Those academic powerhouses are focused properly on educating their students and doing research. What does public school education have to do with that? Is academic excellence of the universities supposed to rub off on the city's students?  He suggests a problem without discussing it when he says, "we also have 45 percent of our public school kids on free and reduced lunch, which means that their parents are living around the poverty line." Oh? Cambridge has a large high income population. Why are so many of their children attending private schools? Is there a problem unmentioned with the city's public schools?

Showing off his knowledge of economics Mazem makes a remarkable comment. "if you financially benefit the wealthy, they will save it, but if you put dollars in the pockets of people who are working or middle class, they will spend it at local businesses. It happens right away." How does he know that? Wealthy people invest their money. Poor people have access to the internet and purchase items online anywhere in the world. The Council provided access to the internet for all Cambridge citizens defeating their campaign to buy local. Indeed they hire out of town consultants to make their decisions. What is up with that? Once the Council bought a book as a present for the City Manager. At a public meeting Mayor Reeves boasted that was purchased at Barnes and Nobles.

The final perplexing comment has to do with a proposed experiment of councilors living on $10 a day. Homeless people live on less. Free food is served at venues seven days a week in and around Cambridge. Free clothing, furniture and more. One can get free mental health services too. Some homeless persons abuse the system and pretend to be ill and call emergency services, which provides free rides to hospitals with a free overnight stay with meals. Why not address some solvable problems  instead of reinventing the wheel, grandstanding for journalists. The more things change, the more they stay the same imitating Washington DC.

[From article]
I watched, and I think everyone knows it should be $15 an hour, but I also think that everyone [in the Boston area] secretly feels in their gut that this just isn’t going to happen,
[. . .]
We have 105,000 people in this city [Cambridge], but we have an unbelievable amount of extremely high value construction that buoys our economy and empowers our local government to do incredible things for education. But how could we not take care of a very basic wage right? We have commercial development, we have academic powerhouses, we have everything we need to empower the upper middle class and above.
[. . .]
We want to house as many people as possible who need it, housing is a human right, but we also have 45 percent of our public school kids on free and reduced lunch, which means that their parents are living around the poverty line.
[. . .]
the fact is that if you financially benefit the wealthy, they will save it, but if you put dollars in the pockets of people who are working or middle class, they will spend it at local businesses. It happens right away.
[. . .]
We’re also going to do a challenge where councilors and others try to live on the current minimum wage. At the end of the day, the lesson will be that none of us really can live on $10 a day.

https://digboston.com/labor-revolt-in-the-peoples-republik/

LABOR REVOLT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIK
August 24, 2015
By CHRIS FARAONE

Spending Other People's Money Society Gave Baltimore, MD $1.8 billion in Taxpayer Funds, But Democrats Demand More

[From article]
The city of Baltimore received over $1.8 billion from President Barack Obama’s stimulus law, including $467.1 million to invest in education and $26.5 million for crime prevention.
President Obama claimed last Tuesday that if the Republican-controlled Congress would implement his policies to make “massive investments in urban communities,” they could “make a difference right now” in the city, currently in upheaval following the death of Freddie Gray.
[. . .]
However, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found that the Obama administration and Democratically-controlled Congress did make a “massive” investment into Baltimore, appropriating $1,831,768,487 though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly known as the stimulus.
According to Recovery.gov, one of Baltimore’s central ZIP codes, 21201, received the most stimulus funding in the city, a total of $837,955,866. The amount included funding for 276 awards, and the website reports that the spending had created 290 jobs in the fourth quarter in 2013.
Of this amount, $467.1 million went to education; $206.1 million to the environment; $24 million to “family”; $16.1 million to infrastructure; $15.2 million to transportation; $11.9 million to housing; and $3.1 million to job training.
[. . .]
The projects included $26.5 million from the Justice Department (DOJ) to combat gang activity and provide community support for at-risk juveniles.

http://freebeacon.com/issues/baltimore-received-1-8-billion-from-obamas-stimulus-law/

Baltimore Received $1.8 Billion from Obama’s Stimulus Law
City burned despite ‘massive investment’ implemented by president
BY: Elizabeth Harrington Follow @LizWFB
May 4, 2015 5:00 am

Spending Other People's Money Campaign Demands More Taxpayer Funding

[This comment was censored by the editors of the Cambridge Chronicle. Protecting fragile politicians, doctors?] 

Ending low weight births, providing more clothing, books, food, and recreation for children only in Massachusetts? Myopic thinking. What about the poor children in Baltimore? In Ferguson MO? Gaza? Syrian and Jordanian refugee camps. Eritrea. Sudan. Imagine the economic stimulus in those areas! Surely Massachusetts taxpayers want to spread the wealth to others besides their own needy persons. Harvard University alone could provide up to $36 billion to improve the lives of extremely poor persons elsewhere. Why do greedy Harvard University administrators sit on those funds only to buy more land and build more buildings? An amendment should be proposed immediately to include the above mentioned areas where there is a need for the EITC now. As a Harvard College grad the new Governor could use his influence to get Harvard to redirect their funds to those who need it most. Rep. Decker and Dr. Sandel should set an example for all elected officials and medical professionals, and urge them to join in pledging 25 percent of their net income for the next ten years to help those needy families.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150430/NEWS/150439551

Guest column: Keep thousands of children out of poverty
By Rep. Marjorie Decker and Dr. Megan Sandel
Posted Apr. 30, 2015 at 2:02 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle