The Independent

... The Senate defeated a measure that would have established a commission mandated to highlight duplicative or wasteful spending by federal government departments and agencies. On Tuesday, lawmakers voted down the creation of a commission to recommend the spending cuts and tax increases necessary to move the federal budget deficit back toward manageable levels. Mr. Obama pledged to create such a commission using his executive authority. Lawmakers of both parties have said this approach wouldn't be effective as the president can't oblige Congress to hold a vote on such a commission's recommendation. Taking the task of resolving the long-term fiscal imbalances from Congress' hands is an idea that has been around for years. As the nation's fiscal position has worsened, the concept has gained steam. Write to Corey Boles at corey.boles@dowjones.com

* The Wall Street Journal * JANUARY 28, 2010, 1:53 P.M. ET Senate Approves Amendment to Raise Debt Ceiling by $1.9 Trillion By COREY BOLES WASHINGTON—The Senate approved legislation Thursday increasing the federal government's borrowing limit by $1.9 trillion, enough to enable the Treasury to pay its bills through 2010. The 60-39 vote was strictly along party lines with no Republicans joining the Democratic majority to approve the legislation. Once the increase is signed into law, the federal government will be able to borrow up to $14.3 trillion, by far the highest amount of debt it has ever held on its books. The current limit of around $12.4 trillion would have been breached by the end of February. House lawmakers must still take up the legislation and are expected to do so next week, according to a senior House Democratic aide. The increase comes just over a month after Congress upped the borrowing cap by $290 billion from its previous limit of $12.1 trillion. A vote to

The Loft > Will Tea Party Activists Bring an End to RINOs? Will Tea Party Activists Bring an End to RINOs? Posted By Bobby Eberle On January 25, 2010 at 9:01 am Last week, Scott Brown showed that running a campaign built on conservative principles could not only win, but it could win in the bluest of blue states. His platform keyed in on the frustration felt by Tea Party activists that the federal government is out of control. He made Barack Obama and left-wing policies his targets, and he won. But what does it mean for the future? The answer is simple; it means that the so-called Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) should beware. Actually, any Washington incumbent should probably be sleeping with one eye open as we move into the primary election season, but those Republicans who put politics over principle and helped pave the way to massive spending should be particularly troubled. In order to truly change Washington, there needs to be a fresh approach. You can't do that with stal

Schwarzenegger's effort to release 40,000 prisoners put on hold by Supreme Court [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times January 19, 2010 | 8:18 am Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to release more than 40,000 prison inmates in California was placed on hold -- at least temporarily -- by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court left unclear today the status of a court order in California that calls for the release of the prisoners to relieve overcrowding. The Republican governor wants to release the prisoners as part of an effort to reduce the state's nearly $20-billion budget deficit. The justices said they did not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal filed by Schwarzenegger, but said the prisoner-release order had been put on hold "pending review by this court." That suggests the justices may revisit the issue later. -- David G. Savage

California single-payer plan advances Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Friday, January 22, 2010 (01-22) 04:00 PST Sacramento - As national health care reform grew more uncertain, the California Legislature on Thursday pushed forward a controversial proposal to create a single-payer health system in the state. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-3 along party lines, with Democrats in favor of the proposal, which will be considered by the full Senate next week. The vote came two days after Massachusetts voters elected a Republican U.S. senator to fill the seat long held by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy - putting President Obama's national health bill in jeopardy. Backers of the California plan said the timing was coincidental and due to legislative timelines. But political observers said the vote could come back to hurt state Democrats in November and viewed the move as motivated by the turmoil in Washington, D.C. Similar incarnations of the Cali

For those with a sense of "math" humor... A teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-Gebra is a problem for us," the Attorney General said. "They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values." They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as "unknowns", but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ''There are 3 sides to every triangle'

January 8, 2010 By Jon Coupal For a decade, California state government has spent more than it receives in revenue. The result? Our state has the lowest credit rating of all 50 states, we rank in the top four in unemployment, near the top in tax burden per capita, and we rank last or close to last in a number of surveys that measure business climate. Not coincidentally, California small business bankruptcies are up 81% over last year. For lawmakers, spending is a compulsion. During the historic recall campaign of 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who correctly labeled the spending problem as an addiction, promised he would be the antidote. His pledge to “blow up the boxes” and bring fiscal sanity to Sacramento led voters to support his candidacy by a huge margin. Sadly, and perhaps predictably, the spending terminator quickly succumbed to a more regional strain of the Beltway fog – some have even likened it to the Stockholm Syndrome where, after just a few months in office, elected o

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"The government is spending money like it is going out of style," groans one justifiably disgruntled reader. "Part of reason is huge pay to government employees and corruption by Congress. "Data from Cato Institute of Federal Pay Vs Private (i.e. taxpayers) shows federal pay and benefits in 2008 of $119,982 vs. $59,909 private industry. Twice as high! And, the gap is growing fast. A decade ago, the average federal civilian employee earned 66% more in wages and benefits than the average private taxpayer. Today, it is double. In 2009 Federal Government budget for wages is up 3%, while private employees are losing their jobs and pay is being reduced. And, state and local town employees are paid about 35% more than private taxpayers. "Is that fair for taxpayers to be supporting Federal pay double their own?" the reader goes on to ask. "The federal employees are now the elite, upper class - like in Russia. It is the reason why Washington and s

MEXICO UNDER SIEGE Wife of slain El Monte civic leader tells how night out with friends morphed into horror - latimes.com 'You never think this kind of thing can happen . . . to innocent people,' Betzy Salcedo says.