Here are some links I found worthy of attention.

Congress Plays Hooky on Fridays Despite Pledge by Democrats to Work All Week

Congress Plays Hooky on Fridays Despite Pledge by Democrats to Work All Week
Democratic leaders promised when their party regained control of the House three years ago that lawmakers would work five-day weeks, but that plan apparently didn’t work.

But a recent analysis found that after a fairly energetic first half of this year, the House has settled into what Politico calls a “rather leisurely routine” of two-and-a-half day workweeks.

For example, only one vote has been held on a Friday since the House returned for its fall session Sept. 8.

“We will, then, not plan to be here on Friday. I know that disappoints all of you,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said to applause and groans on Thursday.
Asked why the House isn’t in session Friday, Hoyer blamed the Senate, where key spending bills have been held up.

“I’m not going to hold people here to twiddle our thumbs,” he said.

The issue even made a rare appearance on the House floor this week.

“We don’t have some other bills, because, frankly, we can’t get 60 votes to consider them on the floor of the United States Senate,” he said. “I think that’s lamentable.”
—
Aides to the Democratic leadership contended that, for lawmakers, time spent off the House or Senate floor, or back in home districts, hardly amounts to a holiday.

And they said that under GOP leadership, the House work ethic was even worse.

With members breezing in on Tuesday afternoons, working hard on Wednesdays an jetting out of the Capitol by Thursday afternoon.

It appears even the leaders have no clue how to lead. Party doesn’t matter, this isn’t just the affliction of the Democrats, the Republicans are just as guilty. Imagine how long we would have our jobs if we only worked two and a half days each week…

I guess the taxpayers end up the winners in this whole issue; if they aren;t there, they can’t vote. If they can’t vote, they aren’t pissing our money down a rat hole.

—

Lawmakers Eye Untapped Stimulus Funds as Obama Proposes New Spending

Lawmakers Eye Untapped Stimulus Funds as Obama Proposes New Spending
After President Obama called on Congress to approve $250 payments to Social Security recipients to make up for not getting a cost-of-living increase, House Minority Leader John Boehner said he’d be “happy” to support it — so long as Congress takes the money out of the stimulus package.

With the bulk of the $787 billion stimulus package still unspent, some lawmakers say, President Obama should not be adding yet another $13 billion to the deficit by funding a one-time $250 Social Security payment.

—

“The stimulus bill is not working. The American people are asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’ And if we’re going to provide this benefit to our seniors, why don’t we take it from stimulus funds that clearly aren’t getting the job done?” Boehner said.

—

James Horney, director of federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said calls to divert the stimulus money are unwarranted. He said one of the reasons that economic growth is projected for next year is that a large portion of the stimulus is yet to be spent.

“The idea that somehow because it hasn’t been spent, that it’s not important for getting the economy going, is misguided,” he said.

But some, including the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, are warning about the clamor for new spending. Obama’s call for additional Social Security payments, for instance, drew recriminations on Friday’s newspaper editorial pages. Since seniors received a 5.8 percent boost in January, the additional $250 check was seen more as a political move than a necessary effort to relieve seniors. The Washington Post called it a bid to “buy off” seniors while adding another $13 billion to the national debt.

Horney said there’s “no justification” for the increase in terms of inflation, since overall consumer prices have fallen.

So now that they can’t spend it fast enough on shovel-ready projects, they want to still spend it, just give it away. I am not knocking the seniors getting a bit more, but you know, my last raise, a year ago, was 2.25%. I haven’t had a raise this year, and with the way things are going, you can bet there won’t be a cost of living adjustment, because I’m not a government employee or a union grunt. Of course, I pay a LOT of taxes. Where’s mine?

—

HARRY REID: “He talked about CBO saying that there would be $54 billion saved each year if we put caps on medical malpractice and put some restrictions — tort reform — $54 billion. Sounds like a lot of money, doesnt it, Mr. President? The answer is yes. But remember, were talking about $2 trillion, $54 billion compared to $2 trillion. You can do the math. We can all do the math. Its a very small percent.”

—

Obama says he’s looking at any way to create jobs

“We are moving in the right direction,” he said.

The site is one of 8,000 road and bridge projects approved under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed just after taking office. Construction is under way on nearly 5,000 of those projects. Obama said many are coming in 10 to 20 percent under budget, which will allow the government to invest in more projects.

Obama said the current phase of the Fairfax parkway project will create new private sector jobs. His goal, he said, is an economy “where our stock market isn’t only rising again but our businesses are hiring again.”

Ok, I’m calling BS on this. Since when has a government road project EVER come in UNDER budget? Ever? And in VA? Are you serious? WHo believes this crap?

The problem here is that Obama is realizing his spend-a-thon is not working. Although they have spent 40% of the money so far, the rate of increase in unemployment hasn’t slowed, he is having a hard time explaining where all the “saved jobs” are, and he surely can;t explain why the unemployment rate breached 8% when he promised it wouldn;t if we threw the government printing presses at it.

The more this president speaks, the mroe trouble he gets himself in to. He can’t lead, he never has shown a penchant for leadership, and those he surrounded himself with as advisors, thugs, muscle, etc, are just as bad. They can all drive the getaway car but not many of them have any idea on how to get where they are going or who is going to go in the bank door first.

—>Gardie