SOTU was boring.
Having just seen part of some of the Medal of Freedom ceremonies, I thought the SOTU "Great Americans" portion was smarmy.
After a first salvo on balancing the budget, a flip-flop of Herculean proportions and a mis-statement of the problem which is what the GOP want to do about their six years without one, the rest was on borrowed time.
The Energy Policy stuff looked like a legacy grab, coming so late in his term and the longstanding problems in the mideast. The strategic petroleum reserve increase sounded like a prudent thing but also like part of a phased new war with Iran.
AND THEN, there was this. Looks like the U.S. Government unlawfully spending taxpayer money, following a description that seems to sum up to spending-by-Gentleman's-agreement:
In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate -- they are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You didn't vote them into law. I didn't sign them into law. Yet, they're treated as if they have the force of law.
The time has come to end this practice.
sullylink
