Monday, June 20, 2011

Cut, Cap, Balance.

As budget talks heat up in light of the looming July 4th recess, several conservative groups and lawmakers are coalescing around a pledge that cuts spending across the board, caps government spending, and includes a balanced budget amendment.Link

'We need to leave the euro now'.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has called on members of parliament to forge a "national accord" to deal with the country's debt crisis. Speaking at the start of three days of debate, Mr Papandreou said the country was "at a crucial point" and risked a catastrophic default if it did not act.Link

air conditioning > NASA budget.

Steve Anderson, a retired brigadier general who was Petraeus' chief logistician in Iraq, says that the Pentagon spends $20 billion a year just to air condition tents and temporary buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's more than NASA's entire annual budget. There's an easy fix, says Anderson: Spray tents with polyurethane foam. An existing $95 million contract to spray-insulate tents is providing $1 billion in cost-avoidance, Anderson says. But insulating tents instead of air conditioning them is still not official military policy.Link

Dunn.

Police say "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn died in a fiery car crash in suburban Philadelphia early Monday morning. Police say Dunn's car careered off the road, flipped over a guardrail and crashed into the woods before bursting into flames. A passenger was also killed, and speed may have been a factor in the crash, West Goshen Township police said.Link

Why does Ron Paul keep winning.......

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), presumably a long shot in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, crushed his rivals in the Republican Leadership Conference straw poll of party devotees over the weekend with 612 votes. In distant second was former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman (382 votes), followed by Rep. Michele Bachmann (191 votes).Link

Making George W. Bush vanish.

NEW ORLEANS — Republicans head into 2012 united in their disdain for an unpopular, Big Government-loving, internationalist president. The name of that president: George W. Bush.Link