David Brooks
Dana Millbank
Eugene Robinson
"Nine thousand earmarks, billions and billions of dollars of unneeded and wasteful spending, and the president's budget person says, 'This is last year's business. We want to just move on.' That's insulting to the American people. . . . Does that mean that last year's president will sign this pork-barrel bill?" - John McCain
John McCain is protesting the 9000 earmarks in the current $410 billion proposed budget. Each earmark is contracted through a lobbyist, who then gets the Congressman to put it into an appropriations bill in return for a campaign contribution.
Politico reports: "Long delayed but not shrunken with time, a nearly $410 billion omnibus spending bill is fast becoming a great bone in the throat for Democrats and the White House, just when each hoped to put the past behind them and move onto President Barack Obama’s new 2010 budget.
The giant measure covers more than a dozen Cabinet departments and represents unfinished business from last fall, when Democrats and the Bush administration were at loggerheads over domestic spending. But in today’s environment — of soaring deficits and unemployment — it’s an explosive mix of parochial projects and new spending. And as Obama himself famously quoted Faulkner in the campaign last year, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” Congress needs to do the right thing and dump the earmarks, but that isn't going to happen, its too entrenched and they like the easy money. Even Rahm Emanuel has 16 projects sponsored, worth $8.5 million for Chicago. McClatchy Newspapers reports: "When asked why Emanuel still has his name on earmarks, House Appropriations Committeee spokewoman Kirstin Brost, said "Why not?"
Politico reports: "Long delayed but not shrunken with time, a nearly $410 billion omnibus spending bill is fast becoming a great bone in the throat for Democrats and the White House, just when each hoped to put the past behind them and move onto President Barack Obama’s new 2010 budget.
The giant measure covers more than a dozen Cabinet departments and represents unfinished business from last fall, when Democrats and the Bush administration were at loggerheads over domestic spending. But in today’s environment — of soaring deficits and unemployment — it’s an explosive mix of parochial projects and new spending. And as Obama himself famously quoted Faulkner in the campaign last year, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” Congress needs to do the right thing and dump the earmarks, but that isn't going to happen, its too entrenched and they like the easy money. Even Rahm Emanuel has 16 projects sponsored, worth $8.5 million for Chicago. McClatchy Newspapers reports: "When asked why Emanuel still has his name on earmarks, House Appropriations Committeee spokewoman Kirstin Brost, said "Why not?"
There are conflicting headlines in the Gazette this morning, with one study ranking Colorado as #2 in an index of free states: "According to a study, Colorado does a better job of leaving you alone than almost every other state. In "Freedom in the 50 States," a study released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University that claims to be the first comprehensive ranking of "economic and personal freedom in the American states."
Colorado also scored third highest in the economic-freedom ranking and 15th on personal freedom."
And in another story from the Pew Center, 1 in 29 citizens in Colorado are either in jail or under correctional supervision, ranking us 15th in the nation. To honor these statistics, I have created another bumper sticker that equally reflects the findings.
Colorado
Live Free AND Die
Late night jokes seem to all be from Bill Maher last Friday:
"Obama announced today we are finally, it's official, getting out of Iraq. Because the way the economy is going, we're going to need the troops here, for, you know, riot control." --Bill Maher
"Obama said he hopes the terrorists don't follow us home, but if they do, and they want to bring down a building, the CitiCorp Center is at Lexington and 53rd." --Bill Maher
"Yeah, CitiCorp got their third bailout from the taxpayers. We now own 36 percent of CitiCorp, huh? And the CEO of CitiBank said, 'This does not change our strategy, our operations, or our governance.' Well, that's a relief. Just keep that s**tty bank magic going, would you?" --Bill Maher
"How many watched the Obama speech on Tuesday night? He delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress. I watched at home with friends, also a joint session." --Bill Maher
"Hey, speaking of that, our new attorney general, Eric Holder, said individual states are now going to determine their own marijuana laws, and that the DEA is going to end raids on the California cannabis club. So, ask your doctor if pot is right for you." --Bill Maher
"But the speech. If you didn't see it, I'll give you the short version. We're completely broke, and deeply in debt, but we're going to do a bank rescue, universal healthcare, give everybody a college education, have a bigger war in Afghanistan, cut the deficit in half, and cure cancer. We were this close to universal blow jobs." --Bill Maher
"It was a powerful speech. Joe Biden said it made the hair that was transplanted from the back of his neck stand up." --Bill Maher
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