Obama’s stimulus bill: $7 million per house to provide seven homes internet access in Montana.
Throw these bums out! The Senate canceled its July 4th break to deal with the debt and literally did nothing.
Doesn’t this make you feel safer? A TSA agent was arrested in Florida earlier this week for stealing from passengers.
It appears that U.S. aerospace layoffs more than tripled in the first half of 2011.
The downsizing, prompted by cutbacks in defense and government contracts, jumped from 6,121 in the first six months of 2010 to 20,851 this year, based on planned layoffs announced by major employers.
Though I have always favored shutting down the government space agency and replacing it with privately-built rockets and spaceships, the manner in which this is being done now is disgraceful. George Bush declared the retirement of the shuttle seven years ago. Since then Congress, Bush, and Obama have all done an abominable job preparing the nation for that retirement.
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More science budget news: The House today proposed cutting NOAA’s $4.59 billion budget by $103 million.
There already is some squealing about this (see the link above), but note that a $4.49 billion budget for NOAA would still be half a billion dollars more than NOAA’s 2008 budget, which is hardly what I’d call a draconian cut.
Ron Paul (R-Texas) called for the abolition of the TSA yesterday.
More science budget news: The House proposes no budget increase for the National Science Foundation.
The House today proposed cutting NASA’s budget back to 2008 levels while eliminating all funds for the James Webb Space Telescope.
As much as I’d hate to see the Webb telescope die, it has cost far more than planned, is way behind schedule, and carries a gigantic risk of failure. However, if I had a choice, I’d rather they cut the $1.95 billion for Congress’s homemade heavy-lift rocket, the program-formerly-called-Constellation. There is a much better chance that Webb will get completed, launched, and work, than there is for this improvised and impossibly costly Congressionally conceived rocket.
LightSquared has raised $265 million in new capital as it awaits FCC approval despite evidence its signal interferes with GPS equipment.
New NOAA commercial fishing regulations established last year are destroying small family-owned businesses.
Texas court orders clerk to remove Pledge of Allegiance and opening prayer from the records; clerk says hell no!
This keeps happening: The new Mayor of Miami-Dade County took office on Friday and instantly demanded concessions from eight unions.
This story today from what is generally considered a Democratic newspaper, suggests that the political debate has shifted strongly in favor of the Republicans and against Obama and the Democrats. From the Los Angeles Times: Deficit battle shaping up as GOP victory
Even as the political battle mounts over federal spending, the end result for federal policy is already visible — and clearly favors Republican goals of deep spending cuts and drastically fewer government services.
President Obama entered the fray last week to insist that federal deficits can’t be reduced through spending reductions alone. Federal tax revenue also must rise as part of whatever deficit reduction package Congress approves this summer, he said.
Obama has been pushing to end a series of what he calls tax loopholes and tax breaks for the rich. But even if Obama were to gain all the tax-law changes he wants, new revenue would make up only about 15 cents of each dollar in deficit reduction in the package. An agreement by the Republicans to accept new revenue would be a political victory for Obama because “no new taxes” has been such an article of faith for the GOP.
But substantively, budget experts note, the plan would still be dominated by cuts to government programs, many of them longtime Democratic priorities, such as Medicaid and federal employee pensions.
For a liberal newspaper to recognize and describe in detail the absurdity of Obama’s position on taxes versus cuts is remarkable. Normally a liberal newspaper would ignore the fact that the President’s suggested tax-law changes will bring in practically no significant revenue, and focus instead on the so-called refusal of Republicans to compromise. That the Los Angeles Times is not willing to carry water for Obama and the Democrats shows that the Democratic position is incredibly weak politically, and is likely to collapse if the Republicans stand firm. That the newspapers is also willing to describe fairly the Republican position, something liberal newspapers have almost never done in the past two decades, also suggests that they have had enough, and have finally realized how much their creditability has suffered in recent years by their unwillingness to cover political news honestly.
If this pattern spreads, the Republicans might find themselves getting everything — and more — of what they want. And that will be something I have not seen in almost fifty years of watching political life.
A man who correctly refused to hand over his video of an arrest and then was arrested himself for his refusal has been acquitted of all charges.
And I say fire the cops who did this, as they very clearly do not understand the law they are supposed to uphold, and then abuse the power that they have been given.
The Minnesota state government shut down on Friday over budget and taxes.
“We have divided government, and a governor that believes that he has a mandate to raise taxes and increase spending, and we have a Legislature that believes we should cut taxes and reduce spending,” said House Majority Leader Matt Dean. “It is a sort of a microcosm, in the middle of the country, of what’s going on throughout the nation.”
The pigs begin squealing again: According to a report written by a D.C. advocacy group, the national parks face serious problems due to a lack of sufficient funds.
It’s never enough. The National Park Service budget [pdf] has grown from $2.5 billion in 2003 to $3.1 billion in 2011. At the same time, they have increased fees on all public lands, often introducing fees where none had ever existed before.
Somehow, they managed for decades on smaller budgets. At this time of unimaginable federal debt, I have no sympathy for them, despite the fact that I am a passionate lover of the natural wonders contained in the national parks.
NASA is suing Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell over camera ownership.
The law is such an inconvenient thing: The Obama administration gave an almost $80,000 grant to the largest branch of a renamed ACORN, despite a Congressional prohibition.
The Obama administration is offering another billion in free money to homeowners who can’t pay their mortgage.
So, considering the trillions in debt that is overwhelming the budget of the federal government, I wonder where is billion dollars coming from. Do they grow it on trees? I’d really like to know, since it would be nice if I could manufacture cash out of thin air as easily whenever I thought I needed it.
Texas congressman demands the firing of VA cemetery director for denying mourners their first amendment rights.
Another federal judge has ordered the Obama administration to stop stalling and start issuing oil and gas leases, as required by law.
To this administration, the law is such an inconvenient thing.
Bad news: The Federal Appeals court in Ohio has upheld Obamacare 2-1. A warning from the dissenting judge:
“If the exercise of power is allowed and the mandate upheld, it is difficult to see what the limits on Congress’s Commerce Clause authority would be. What aspect of human activity would escape federal power?”
We’re here to help you: The EPA has approved a warning label for its approval of 15% ethanol gasoline.
EPA says tests show E15 won’t harm 2001 and newer vehicles, which have hoses and gaskets and seals specially designed to resist corrosive ethanol. But using E15 fuel in older vehicles or in power equipment such as mowers, chainsaws and boats, can cause damage and now is literally a federal offense.
Lumber and regulation: First, the Obama administration is about to release its spotted owl recovery plan for the northwest United States, and no one knows what’s in it. Second, a timber industry group has sued the Obama administration for not selling “at least 502 million board feet each year, the amount provided for under the resource management plans for the agency’s districts in Western Oregon.”
With the first story, I wonder what happened to the “most transparent administration in history.” With the second, the Obama administration continues its pattern of ignoring the law in favor of its own preferences.
Freedom of worship in modern America: The cemetery director at the Houston National Cemetery, run by the Veterans administration. has been accused of censoring religious speech.
According to court documents, [Arleen] Ocasio banned members of the groups from using certain religious words such as “God” or “Jesus,” censored the content of prayer, and forbade the use of religious messages in burial rituals unless the deceased’s family submitted the text to her for prior approval.
Court documents also describe the closure of the cemetery’s chapel after Ocasio’s appointment as director two years ago. “The doors remain locked during Houston National Cemetery operating hours, the cross and the Bible have been removed, and the Chapel bells, which tolled at least twice a day, are now inoperative,” the complaint reads. “Director Ocasio only unlocks the Chapel doors when meetings or training sessions are held at the building. Furthermore it is no longer called a ‘chapel’ but a ‘meeting facility.’” [emphasis mine]
The charges against a woman, Emily Good, who was arrested for videotaping the police from her front yard have been dropped.
As far as I am concerned, the cop who did this should be fired. So should the cops who did this:
There will be an internal review into the original videotaped incident as well as one last week where police officers wrote five tickets outside a meeting supporting Good, using rulers to measure distance from the curb. [emphasis mine]
