Rep. Michele Bachmann tells Newsmax that the financial reform bill recently signed into law is a “disaster” that will immediately have a negative impact on average Americans, and should be repealed if Republicans regain control of Congress. She talks of her plans for the new Tea Party Caucus in Congress and plans to probe the Obama administration.

Pentagon officials are warning about potential dire consequences if Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill. Plus, TSA has tips for servicemembers returning from deployment.

Defense officials say some Army and Marine Corps accounts could run out of money next month without passage of a supplemental funding bill by Congress.

Congress hears emotional testimony from family of service members who committed suicide. Plus, a look at a new film on PTSD that shares some personal experiences.

Seems like Barack Obama is making it plainer by the week that he a union shill as he asked lawmakers to approve $50 billion (that’s billion with a “B”) in aid that is earmarked for state and local governments. His reason for requesting this money?

He says that it is needed  to avoid “massive layoffs” of teachers, police and firefighters and to support the tanking economy.

Obama even went so far to write a letter to the lawmakers in Congress, claiming that last year’s stimulus package helped stem the economy’s free fall and also argued that more spending is urgent and unavoidable. The Washington Post (who else?) says that economists say that more spending could help being down chronic high unemployment.

Just like a box of donuts, Obama’s pleading for more money has lots of holes in it.

First and foremost, how does more spending on union-based jobs (in this case, police, firefighters and teachers) spark this economy? If I remember anything at all, you cannot spend your way to a healthy economy. Especially in light of the fact that the current federal deficit is around 13 trillion dollars – 90% of out GDP.

In the letter, Obama goes the contradictory route, asking for more money; yet at the same time, espousing some financial restraint. That in and of itself tells anyone with a lick of sense that you cannot have it both ways.

You don’t have to be an economics major to know that anytime that you spend funds that essentially are not there, that adds to the debt.

I’m only speaking for myself in saying that if Obama is serious about helping our economy recover, he should center his efforts by making cuts on programs that are non-essential to the economy, of which there are many.

Let’s not forget that when Obama mentions the police, firefighters and teachers, it is his way of providing payback to the unions that represent the aforementioned professions. Think of the SEIU and any other unions representing the three professions in this case.

So if anything, this is more about political payback than it is about helping the national economy improve.

Any bills that are advocating this stance need to be struck down immediately. Like the vast majority of Obama’s initiatives, this is yet another idea gone bad.

But with the Obama administration, this par for the course. Incompetency never trumps common sense – which the POTUS is illustrating in spades.

It is rather interesting that because the federal government does not want to beef up its borders that it takes the state of Arizona to take the bull by the horns and do the dirty work themselves.

If anything, it is by necessity that Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into law – and will take effect on July 29 – legislation that allows law enforcement agencies to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the United States illegally.

The funny thing is that because of all of the drug smuggling, violence and all of the related things that seem to cross over our borders, that is the straw that broke the camel’s back in Arizona. It was done out of necessity more than anything else.

Which brings up another issue that’s somewhat related: What about Mexico’s immigration policy?

Mexico repeatedly has been cited by human rights groups for abusing or turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrants from Central America. Until recently, Mexican law made illegal immigration a criminal offense — anyone arrested for the violation could be fined, imprisoned for up to two years and deported. Mexican lawmakers changed that in 2008 to make illegal immigration a civil violation like it is in the United States, but their law still reads an awful lot like Arizona’s.

The Mexican law also states that law enforcement officials are “required to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country before attending to any issues.”

All of this coincides with Mexico president Felipe Calderon’s visit to the White House and subsequent address to Congress on Thursday. Calderon found it in him to deride the U.S.’s immigration policy while conveniently not mentioning the poor excuse of an immigration policy that exists south of the border. 

Of course, Barack Obama did not help matters any by deriding the policy we have in the States. This isn’t the first time that Obama has been the apologist-in-chief and more than likely it won’t be the last time, either.

Anyone who listened to Obama speak probably noticed that he basically misrepresented the law while at the podium. Let’s also factor in the fact and irony that Janet Napolitano is the head of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona – who, by the way never really did anything of substance in terms of making Arizona’s borders safer when she was Governor.

And what has Attorney General Eric Holder done up to this point? *crickets chirping* Exactly – not a damn thing.

What I envision here is Obama trying to put up a legal challenge on the Arizona statute, in which I expect the courts to uphold the law in Arizona. Obama’s base argument will go along the lines of, “I find this law appalling and unconstitutional.” Kind of a rather lame argument for him to use, but with his vast experience as a community organizer, that argument makes perfect sense to him.

Meanwhile, there is the address Calderon gave to Congress Thursday. Who is he to chide a legislative branch of the U.S. government about their laws while the Mexican government isn’t exactly the second coming of the Bill of Rights?

Calderon’s scolding of Congress isn’t much different than when Obama had his State of the Union address in which he derided the Supreme Court.

But the two of them getting together makes a lot of sense for both as Obama, if he had his druthers, would allow every illegal Mexican or any other illegal alien to pursue and obtain amnesty. There’s plenty of political motivation for Calderon to be here as he is, whether he knows it or not, helping Obama in his quest for granting amnesty to illegal immigrants.

A man has to get his voting bloc from somewhere, right?

President Barack Obama — who came to power with the help of government employee unions across the nation and has lavished on them hundreds of billions in stimulus funds to keep them on federal, state and local payrolls with no strings attached — is moving to cut spending on salaries for military personnel.

This weekend The Washington Post headlined story, “Pentagon Asking Congress to Hold Back on Generous Increases in Troop Pay,” disclosed that the Obama administration is “pleading” with Congress to give military personnel a much smaller increase in pay than lawmakers have proposed.

The Pentagon contends that Congress simply has been too generous with troops during the past decade.

In fact, lawmakers have lavished so much money on troops, according to the Post, that service members are now better compensated than workers in the private sector with similar experience and education levels.

For example, the military brass claims that an average sergeant in the Army with four years of service and one dependent would receive $52,589 in annual compensation, according to the paper. This figure includes basic pay, housing, and subsistence allowances, as well as tax benefits.

Meanwhile, a U.S. postal letter carrier, with no supervisory or hazardous duty, makes approximately $80,000 a year when all benefits are factored in.

Critics of the Obama administration’s efforts to cut soldier’s pay say America’s security has been strengthened by higher pay rates, as qualified veterans are re-enlisting at record rates, reversing the problem the military witnessed just a few years ago.

“Any attempt to link rising military personnel costs with shrinking military readiness is total nonsense,” said Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., who leads the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest and oldest major combat veterans organization.

“If the Defense Department needs a larger budget for personnel programs, then let the VFW carry that message to Congress. Just don’t pin the budget blame on service members and military retirees.”

Tradewell’s ire was targeted this past week at Clifford L. Stanley, the Defense undersecretary of personnel and readiness, who said during recent testimony before the personnel subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee: “Rising personnel costs could dramatically affect the readiness of the department.”

“What’s hurtful,” said Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis., “is a continuing perception that DoD is more concerned about the budget than they are about recruiting and retaining a professional volunteer force that’s been at war now for more than eight years.”

According to Stanley, last year was the military’s most successful recruiting year since the establishment of the all-volunteer force in 1973.

Although advocates for military families argue that the decade-long spending spree reverses severe cuts that the military suffered in the 1990s, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other military brass fear that the spending will threaten security in the years to come. That will mean less money to buy weapons and maintain aging equipment.

On Saturday, Gates told reporters that massive deficits can impact how the president and policy makers confront emerging threats like Iran.

Lawmakers consistently have overruled the Pentagon and mandated more-generous pay raises than requested by both the Bush and Obama administrations. Congress has also rejected attempts by the Pentagon to slow soaring healthcare costs, which Gates told reporters are “eating us alive,” by raising co-pays or premiums.

The military admits the improving compensation for troops is helping retention.

For example, improvements in pay and benefits have made it more likely that sailors will stick around longer, Vice Adm. Mark E. Ferguson III, the chief of naval personnel, told the Post.

A Navy survey last year found that about 60 percent of spouses wanted their sailors to make a career of Navy life, meaning a stint of at least 20 years. In 2005, only about 20 percent of spouses felt the same way.

“I think pay was previously a concern, but it’s started to change,” Ferguson said. Congress had been “extremely generous” but rising personnel costs were already influencing what the Navy spends to operate, maintain and modernize its fleet, he added.

The Pentagon wants a pay raise of 1.4 percent for service members next year, an increase based on the Employment Cost Index, which the Labor Department uses to measure private-sector salary increases.

Congress, as it has for the past several years, has indicated it favors a slightly bigger bump, of 1.9 percent.

Although that extra half of a percent may not seem like much, one expert told the Post that it would accrue annually and cost about $3.5 billion over the next decade.

But congressional supporters of the men and women in the Armed Services are questioning why they are being singled out for future pay cutbacks when other government agencies and unions are not.

The U.S. Postal Service, for example, is slated to give letter carriers an increase of 1.9 percent this coming year.

And postal employees are considered to be grossly overpaid compared with their private counterparts. A postal supervisor, for example, can make $70,000 or year or more, plus significant benefits.

Last year, Congress had to help fill a $3.8 billion deficit at the federally backed agency, but there has been no discussion of salary cuts for postal employees. Instead, postal officials have focused on reducing service, including Saturday delivery.

Pepper sent this in:

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) today released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the April report showing 290,000 added jobs but an increased unemployment rate of 9.9%:

“During these tough economic times, receiving news about added jobs is most welcome.  However, what I don’t want is for us to get wound up over what could be a mirage.  I am seriously concerned that these numbers could reflect short-term government jobs created by new Census workers and other additional government employees. 

“Congress must act responsibly to ensure that we offer incentives to create long-term, private sector jobs here in America .  If we have any hope of seriously turning this economy around, we must make tough spending decisions to solve our own debt crisis before the calamity in Greece is seen right here in our backyard,” said Congressman Joe Wilson.

National Guard helicopters and crews are supporting aviation missions along the Rio Grande River following the recent rise in violence.

Nearly 250 military medical personnel who have died in the line of duty since 2001 were remembered in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Preparations for the establishment of U.S. Cyber Command are underway. The formal launch is currently awaiting approval from Congress.

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin calls for expulsion of Rep. Louise Slaughter from Congress.