Senate approves $26.1 billion for state aid

The Senate on Thursday approved a jobs bill that would send states $26.1 billion to help them cope with historic budget shortfalls and give Democratic lawmakers a victory to tout on the campaign trail ahead of the November elections.By a 61-to-39 vote, the Senate passed a bill that would send the states $16.1 billion for Medicaid, the healthcare program for the poor, and $10 billion to prevent teacher layoffs. States could face total budget gaps this year of $120 billion.

The U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare move by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been summoned back from its August recess to vote on the measure. That is expected to happen on Tuesday. The bill would then go to President Barack Obama for his signature. Similar measures previously have passed the House.Republicans say the legislation will add to the deficit and tie states’ hands on how to spend the funds. They have attacked it as a “job-killing tax increase.”

They also say the bill serves “special interest groups,” specifically teachers unions whose members tend to vote for Democrats.Pelosi said that labeling teachers and police officers, who will also benefit from the state aid, is demeaning.”This legislation is about creating and saving American jobs and preventing a double-dip recession,” she said. “It is fiscally responsible and fully paid for.”

Democrats facing a wave of anti-Washington anger hope the bill will convince voters going to the polls on November 2 of their commitment to bring down the U.S. unemployment rate, which is near 10 percent.The fragile economic recovery is foremost on the minds of voters and candidates for the 435 House seats and 37 Senate seats up for grabs.

Although states have been begging for the Medicaid money, they are wary of the teachers’ fund as it requires them to keep education spending at 2008 levels, which many cannot afford.Supporters say the bill will not add to the deficit because it is paid for by closing tax loopholes, eliminating advance refunds on the earned income tax credit and ending stimulus funds for food stamps earlier than expected.

One loophole that would be closed would raise more than $10 billion over a decade by preventing companies from claiming foreign tax credits for income not yet subject to U.S. tax.More than half of the 50 U.S. states counted on the additional funds for Medicaid for fiscal 2011, which started last month for many.

States use federal reimbursements to run the program. The $862 billion economic stimulus plan passed last year boosted the reimbursements, but the extra money runs out in December and states have been considering spending cuts and tax cuts to fill the void.The Medicaid money will also give older people access to healthcare, said AARP, the lobbying group for older Americans.

“States are better able to continue offering the often less costly home and community-based service that older Americans overwhelmingly prefer to more expensive nursing homes,” said the group representing retirees.The healthcare industry generally found reassurance in the Senate vote, saying the extra money will help hospitals and pharmacies continue to provide services.

One state, though, was not pleased. The bill would require Texas to agree to maintain or increase education funding during fiscal 2011, 2012 and 2013, in order to receive any of the teacher funds.The federal government was targeting the Lone Star state, said Governor Rick Perry, a Republican running for reelection in November.”Washington would be taking yet another step toward usurping the state’s authority by determining how to fund our schools, and what’s worse, no other state is subject to this provision,” Perry added.(Reuters) –

High school students across New Jersey walked out of class to protest proposed budget cuts

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. High school students across New Jersey walked out of class Tuesday to protest proposed budget cuts.Walkouts, organized on Facebook, were reported from Rancocas Valley High School in Mount Holly to West Orange High School, with more planned throughout the day. Students in Newark were planning to leave class and march to the district offices.It wasn’t clear how many of the state’s roughly 400,000 public high school students would join the walkout, but a Facebook page used to organize the protest had some 17,000 fans by Tuesday.

Organizer Michelle Lauto, who graduated last year from Old Tappan High School in Bergen County and is now a student at Pace University in New York, said she wanted to join the cause because her mother is a teacher and her sister is a school secretary.”What we want to do is get attention to the issue and show primarily that the youth is not apathetic to the issue,” said Lauto, 18, an actress who’s especially concerned that arts programs could be eliminated.

The protest comes one week after voters in 59 percent of the state’s school districts rejected property tax levies to pay for schools, leaving municipal governing bodies to make cuts.

It was the first time in 34 years that the majority of budgets were defeated.

The battle over school funding has been especially acrimonious this year since Gov. Chris Christie’s budget proposal last month called for schools to see their combined direct state and federal aid decreased by about 11 percent on average with many districts getting bigger reductions that that.Most of the state’s school districts planned teacher layoffs and tax increases to make up for the lost aid.Christie says layoffs can be avoided, though, if school employees agree to one-year salary freezes and to start paying 1.5 percent of their salaries toward their health insurance premiums.

Most of the state’s teachers unions have balked at the notion, though, saying Christie is unfairly trying to balance the state’s budget at their expense. Christie has been unapologetic, consistently criticizing the leaders of the New Jersey Education Association for being selfish.The NJEA says students are “engaging in civil disobedience” but shouldn’t walk out of classes.

GOP ends Dems' longtime advantage on economy amid anxiety over jobs, recession

WASHINGTON  Notch one more victim of the recession: With crucial midterm elections nearing, Democrats have lost the advantage they’ve held for years as the party the public trusts to steer the economy.The timing could be fortunate for the Republicans. With jobs and the economy dominating voters’ concerns, the GOP will wield the issue as a cudgel in the battle to grab control of at least one chamber of Congress this November and weaken President Barack Obama.”The number one question on voters’ minds is, ‘Where are the jobs?'” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the House Republican campaign organization. “Republican candidates on the campaign trail will ask one very simple question: ‘Are you better off today that you were two years ago?'”

Misty McMahon, 30, a teacher from Vancleave, Miss., knows her answer. “I feel like it’s so bad right now that it will be hard to climb out,” said McMahon, who voted for Obama but now trusts Republicans more on the economy. “I’m kind of disappointed in the stuff he’s done.”

Each party now has the confidence of 44 percent of people for handling the economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted this month. The Democrats had a nine-point advantage just four months ago, and have held an edge since AP polls began asking about the issue in 2006. In longer-running polling by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, the last time the two parties were even on the economy was 2002.

Pollsters, analysts and politicians across party lines agree the Democrats have lost their grip on the issue chiefly due to unemployment rates that have stuck near 10 percent since last summer, an ongoing foreclosure crisis and the recession that began in December 2007. Despite signals the economy has begun to heal – such as last week’s reports of growing new home sales and rising orders for manufactured products – the improvements have been too subtle for many people to notice.While the November elections are a long way off, most economists believe unemployment will still be high by Election Day, and improvements in the economy are likely to be modest.

Aware that the party in power is commonly punished for a weak economy, Democrats hope to persuade voters to view the elections as a choice between their party’s recovery efforts and what they call the GOP’s preferences to reward corporations and wealthy taxpayers.

“It will be the job of members of Congress and the president and our candidates to make it clear that these elections are not just a referendum on the state of the economy; it will be a choice between two different paths,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who heads the House Democratic campaign operation.The Democrats also may have hurt their image as effective custodians of the economy by spending more than a year pushing Obama’s near $1 trillion health care overhaul through Congress. It was enacted last month to mixed public reviews and after many people – including Democrats – complained that stronger congressional efforts on jobs were overdue.

“It created the impression that Democrats were not focusing enough on jobs and getting people back to work,” said Geoffrey Garin, a Democratic pollster and strategist, adding, “But health care is now behind us.”Some of Obama’s top economic initiatives have also failed to deliver political dividends because, economists say, they have largely prevented the recession from worsening rather than sparking immediate improvements.

As a result, many people have come to view those measures as symbols of excessive federal spending. They include the $787 billion stimulus package and the $80 billion rescue of automakers General Motors and Chrysler, to which the public often adds the $700 billion financial industry bailout enacted in late 2008 under President George W. Bush.

“Politically, it’s often hard to show a negative, a what-if-we-hadn’t-stepped-in,” said Mark Penn, a Democratic pollster and strategist.

Details from the AP-GfK poll show perils and opportunities for both parties.Three-quarters of those surveyed said the economy is still in poor condition. Of that group, fewer than four in 10 said they trust Democrats to do a better job on the economy, and about the same number said they want Democrats to win control of Congress in November.In contrast, among the people who say the economy is doing well, two-thirds trust Democrats to handle the issue and nearly as many want them to control Congress.Supporters of a party in power tend to view the economy more positively than members of the party out of power.

Two other groups in the poll could be pivotal in November.Among people who say the economy is bad, those who believe things improved in the past month are far likelier to support Democrats than those who’ve not seen recent gains. Growth in optimism could help Democrats retain their congressional majorities.

On the other hand, nearly two-thirds in the poll say they know a non-relative who has recently lost a job. This group, whose size has remained steady for more than a year, is likelier to back Republicans.

“That’s the circle that becomes problematic for any incumbent administration,” said GOP pollster David Winston.The AP-GfK Poll was conducted April 7-12 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media and involved interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide on landline and cellular telephones. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.(AP)

Refusing to faith dropped

Have you ever been in a difficult situation, and you look to God, but it became more difficult circumstances?In the three New Testament Gospels, noted a story of a father who may have lost his faith many times.First, the father brought his son who possessed the disciples, but they can not drive out demons. The father could have gone with grief and had to find another way to cure her son. But the father did not want to go, though the scribes began to question it with the disciples of Jesus because of their disability. The father persisted, and because of persistence, he met Jesus face to face.

For readers, the coming of Jesus at that moment was a turning point. But the father does not necessarily know this. When Jesus came, possessed by his son seems much worse. As soon as the devil who possessed her to see the return of Jesus, he slammed him to the ground, foaming at the mouth, teeth and berkertakan seizures. A father must have been painful to see her daughter. He had seen the devil who possessed her and threw her son injured in fire and water, is it possible to change the situation now? Nevertheless, the father still lived and asked for help to Jesus.

The events that lasted at that point would have shaken the faith of his father – and perhaps we can understand. Therefore, the father pleaded, “Therefore if you can do something, please help us and have mercy upon us” (Mark 9:22). The father was not too confident with the ability of Jesus to heal his son, because the followers of his (with embarrassment) failed. The situation was also not increased his promise. The father also might have doubted the love of Jesus. Luke records this event as follows: “Teacher, I beg You to visit my son, because he is the only son” (Luke 9:38). The father loves his son, but he did not know whether Jesus cared enough to help him. The father was hesitant, but he put it honestly. Eventually his son was saved not because the father had a perfect faith, but as a sincere call for help in dealing with doubts.

As a result, the demon shook the boy and left as if the child was dead. At the time people were whispering to say that the child was dead, Jesus did not disappoint the father of faith. When Jesus returned the child to his father, his son was not only healed, but also would never possessed again. Jesus has commanded the devil to never come back, so although it might shake the experience, the father no longer need to experience it.

We, like the father, perhaps also through moments that shake our faith in life. When we are in a difficult situation, and it was our prayers were in vain, if we still have the faith to continue to tell our troubles to Him? If the situation even more difficult, whether the pain and suffering make us leave God? Do we admit our unbelief and ask for help to God, pleading with tears as did the father? If we do this, we need to do is wait for his time comes. If things seem to arrive at the most difficult time, remember that it was not the end of the story.