Readers- Just a reminder that I'm now posting "golden oldies" on weekends, along with a brief word of current commentary from today's perspective. -Stilt
9/13/2009 - To the surprise of precisely no one, liberal darling Michael Moore has declared that his new documentary proves capitalism is "evil" and "you have to eliminate it." The movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story" is debuting in Venice, so that Mr. Moore's handlers will have access to enough water to frequently moisten his vast, wrinkly hide.
Update 3/5/11 - Michael Moore has just re-emerged from his watery seclusion to announce that Wisconsin isn't broke, and Washington isn't broke. There's PLENTY of money in rich people's pockets (and homes, and investments) but "We’ve allowed them to take that. That’s not theirs, that’s a national resource, that’s ours."
In other words, if you've earned money, saved money, created a business, invested in business, or otherwise made any money...Michael Moore says you're a thief who has stolen from the common people. But where would Michael Moore get the ridiculous idea that anyone is entitled to the money in other people's pockets? We think it came from his lifetime of stealing the food off of other people's plates.
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In a game of "chicken," two vehicles head straight at each other...the goal being to see who will chicken out first and turn to avoid a collision. However, this is a very risky game to play when your opponent has no intention of turning away... and is driving a steamroller.
Which is exactly what Wisconsin's runaway Democrats are finding out. The Wisconsin State Senate, eager to get back to the long-delayed work of the voters, has approved a resolution saying that the runaway state Senators can be held guilty of "contempt of the Senate" and "disorderly conduct."
Which means they can be picked up by law enforcement, "held against their will, chained, and brought back to the Senate chambers to vote" on Governor Walker's budget balancing bill.
Of course, they don't have to vote at all...all they need to do is be "present," much like a certain former state senator from Illinois who remains, to this day, rather commitment-phobic.
Frankly, we're hoping that the Democrats don't do anything mature and respectable like returning to their duties voluntarily. After they've cause so much trouble, we think it's only fair that we get to see them dragged into the Senate chambers wearing chains and handcuffs, while kicking and screaming.
Ideally while the Senate Republicans sing the "Bad Boys" theme from COPS.
"While you were gone, we put in new seats for you."-
Years ago, the brilliant comedy troupe Firesign Theater postulated the existence of a government office called "The Department of Redundancy Department." Which would be a really funny joke if it wasn't costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
So says a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which has discovered (surprise!) that our bloated bureaucracy has so many duplicate and overlapping programs and supervisory agencies that taxpayers are paying many times over to do a single job...and that the multiple agencies not only make things more expensive, but more confusing and less effective.
There are so many duplicate agencies, and so little oversight, that no one even knows which agencies are accomplishing anything. For instance, there are 47 different job training programs, but only five have been evaluated for effectiveness since 2004. There are 18 food assistance programs, but 11 of them have virtually no documentation of effectiveness. Need help getting transportation for the handicapped? No problem...as long as you can figure out which of 79 agencies to call.
Teacher effectiveness programs? There are 80 of them...and as nearly as we can tell, none of them are working. And there are 100 different funding programs for highways and rail, which is why you now need a GPS just to find your way through the maze of offices.
Although most Republicans and Democrats agree that the GAO report gives a good map of potential budget cuts, the Whitehouse is a bit less enthusiastic.
In reaction to the news that hundreds of billions in savings are available, Presidential Spokesman Jay Carney cautioned "The question is where do you cut in a way that doesn’t harm the economy, doesn’t throw it in reverse, doesn’t reduce job growth, job creation, and it protects the investments that are so key to longer-term economic growth in this country."
Which seems to indicate that Mr. Obama believes such overspending and redundancy are actually good for the economy, and should be repeated as necessary. And repeated and repeated and... -
