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Not that this wasn't expected (if you add the health care cost of $634 billion, this is certainly approaching estimates we were hearing for the new spending Obama had in mind during the campaign), but Obama's new budget is packed to the point of bursting with spending that looks wholly untenable and thoroughly irresponsible. The Washington Post, tomorrow's edition, notes:
The White House budget request seeks to increase federal spending by at least $500 billion over the next decade,...

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I know that oil and gas companies won't like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that's how we'll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries.
Since I was one of the Republican attack dogs who particularly attacked him for this during the campaign, I'll bite and go there again: Obama being concerned about the implications of these tax breaks where potential for developing alternative energies is concerned is all very well and good, but if...

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It's CPAC week here in DC, and as much as I hate to say it, this post written almost two weeks ago by Rick Moran over at The Next Right is really ringing true for me right now:
The theme of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) should be “Cocooning our way to Irrelevancy” or perhaps “How to lose the next 5 elections in 10 easy steps.”
OK, "Cocooning our way to Irrelevancy but enjoying catching up with friends" might be more...

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Belated Arsenal news, here-- it's been a busy week, and football's been on the back burner. In any event, I'm extraordinarily glad that we did, in fact, beat Roma 1-0, in the Champions League contest. I didn't watch the match, but I've heard Roma weren't really on their game, whereas we were "effervescent," "dynamic" and "full of energy"... at least if you're going with Arseblog's assessment. Arsenal and Roma will meet again, this time at home, on March 11. Hopefully we'll be on similarly...

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So says the Washington Times:
Top Democrats and Republicans are already shooting down President Obama's plan to cut farm subsidies, dealing a blow to one of the cost-savings promises he laid out in his congressional address Tuesday night.
"We'll have to see what specifically the president is talking about, but we just finished the farm bill last year, and I don't think we'll open it up," said Rep. Collin C. Peterson, Minnesota Democrat and chairman of the House Agriculture...

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Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, of whom I am quite the fan, on the GOP congressional leadership:
I don't even know the congressional leadership," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, shrugging off questions about top congressional Republicans, including House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "I have not met them. I don't listen or read whatever it is they say because it is inconsequential -...

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Andrew Sullivan, much reviled among conservatives but still someone I consider a friend and whose writing I continue to read (even if I don't always agree with his points) notes this exchange involving new RNC Chairman Michael Steele, on the subject of civil unions:
GALLAGHER: Is this a time when Republicans ought to consider some sort of alternative to redefining marriage and maybe in the road, down the road to civil unions. Do you favor civil unions?
STEELE: No, no no. What would...

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As someone who actively worked to defeat President Obama last year when he was just plain old Senator/Barack Obama, it will surprise no one to know that I was never quite sold on his candidacy, well-defined by its "change" theme, with which we are now all so well-accustomed.
Watch this space for a couple of longer posts, which I hope will be forthcoming, about my experiences of working at the RNC, to elect John McCain (a man I still very much admire) President, and some more detailed...

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A few years ago, when I was still living in the UK, the subject of foreign aid to Africa was a particularly hot topic. The Jubilee Debt Campaign/Jubilee 2000 (often associated with the "Drop The Debt" slogan) was attracting plenty of attention, as was the Commission for Africa, established in 2004, whose report, issued in March 2005, called on the developed world to "increase andimprove its aid" to the continent. Specifically, the Commission called for an additional $25 billion a year in aid...

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It's sucking more than it should.  0-0 Arsenal-Sunderland today.  I guess the silver lining here is that we didn't concede any goals.  But this is not the kind of performance that's going to move us ahead of Villa at any point soon (check the table).
 

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