Thou Shall Not Suck

Subject: An investigation that was supposed to look into the expenses of first-grade-teacher/plumbing-company-owner turned biologist/zoologist/anthropologist/paleontologist Connie Morris, who averaged $600 a day for a trip to Miami.

Hypothesis: The KBoE has lost it’s collective fucking mind.

Evidence: This is outstanding (use to view).
 
Remarks: You’ve got to read this:

Despite criticism of one member over her expenses during a Florida convention, a State Board of Education subcommittee decided Monday against proposing changes in board travel policies.
 
Board member Connie Morris, of St. Francis, was criticized last month because her trip in April to Miami for a six-day conference on magnet schools cost Kansas taxpayers nearly $3,600.
[emphasis added]

So what’s the problem?

But the subcommittee—whose three members include Morris—decided against recommending revisions to the full board, which was scheduled to take up the issue Tuesday. bugmenot to view).

Remarks: You’ve got to read this:

Despite criticism of one member over her expenses during a Florida convention, a State Board of Education subcommittee decided Monday against proposing changes in board travel policies.

Board member Connie Morris, of St. Francis, was criticized last month because her trip in April to Miami for a six-day conference on magnet schools cost Kansas taxpayers nearly $3,600.
[emphasis added]

So what’s the problem?

But the subcommittee—whose three members include Morris—decided against recommending revisions to the full board, which was scheduled to take up the issue Tuesday.
[emphasis again added]

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. The three-member (insert penis joke here) panel that looked into the expenses included Morris?? That’s like having a trial where the defendant is also one of the jurors.

“There has to be some latitude for different expenses in different parts of the country," said subcommittee Chairman Ken Willard, of Hutchinson, a conservative.

“Not guilty, ya honor!”
 
She averaged $600 a day! How much latitude are you going to give a person? Hell, I’ve had three meals in a 4-star restaurant, drained an entire mini-bar in a 5-star hotel, and STILL not been able to ring up that kind of bill. And we know she wouldn’t do that—according to her bio, she’s a born-again Christian. Of course, that sure does explain a lot.

[…]
Morris' expenses included $339 a night for a room at the hotel where the convention was held. She said no cheaper rooms at the hotel were available when she registered for the conference. She also wanted to avoid walking from another hotel to conference events.
[emphasis again added]

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. The three-member (insert penis joke here) panel that looked into the expenses included Morris?? That’s like having a trial where the defendant is also one of the jurors.

“There has to be some latitude for different expenses in different parts of the country," said subcommittee Chairman Ken Willard, of Hutchinson, a conservative.

“Not guilty, ya honor!”

She averaged $600 a day! How much latitude are you going to give a person? Hell, I’ve had three meals in a 4-star restaurant, drained an entire mini-bar in a 5-star hotel, and STILL not been able to ring up that kind of bill. And we know she wouldn’t do that—according to her bio, she’s a born-again Christian. Of course, that sure does explain a lot.

[…]
Morris' expenses included $339 a night for a room at the hotel where the convention was held. She said no cheaper rooms at the hotel were available when she registered for the conference. She also wanted to avoid walking from another hotel to conference events.

So she fleeced Kansas taxpayers because she: a.) didn’t get off her ass and book her room in time; and b.) didn’t want to walk across the street? After looking at her picture, my guess is that she could probably use the exercise.

She said little during Monday's meeting …

Apparently she’s not totally retarded …

… but in the past has suggested criticism of her is political and part of the board's ongoing dispute over how evolution is taught.

Actually, I think it has more to do with the fact that she ripped off the people of Kansas. Granted, what she did was not technically against the rules, but it sure as hell is ethically questionable. Although, that’s never stopped her before ...

Morris upset moderate board members last month with a newsletter to constituents describing evolution as "an age-old fairy tale" and criticizing other board members by name.

In other words, it’s okay for her to attack other board members, but when the tables are turned, it’s wrong.

So she fleeced Kansas taxpayers because she: a.) didn’t get off her ass and book her room in time; and b.) didn’t want to walk across the street? After looking at her picture, my guess is that she could probably use the exercise.

She said little during Monday's meeting …

Apparently she’s not totally retarded …

… but in the past has suggested criticism of her is political and part of the board's ongoing dispute over how evolution is taught.

Actually, I think it has more to do with the fact that she ripped off the people of Kansas. Granted, what she did was not technically against the rules, but it sure as hell is ethically questionable. Although, that’s never stopped her before ...

Morris upset moderate board members last month with a newsletter to constituents describing evolution as "an age-old fairy tale" and criticizing other board members by name.

In other words, it’s okay for her to attack other board members, but when the tables are turned, it’s wrong.

The subcommittee also was directed to review policies saying that board members are supposed to treat each other with courtesy and not let debates lapse into personal attacks. The subcommittee decided those policies already are clear.

Fucking hypocrites.
 
Conclusion: You would think that the Department of Education would want to teach kids good ethics by example. Of course, you’d be wrong.
 
Solution: Send the entire school board a copy of this.

Debunking Rove Spin         That Colored Fellas weblog

The subcommittee also was directed to review policies saying that board members are supposed to treat each other with courtesy and not let debates lapse into personal attacks. The subcommittee decided those policies already are clear.

Fucking hypocrites.

Conclusion: You would think that the Department of Education would want to teach kids good ethics by example. Of course, you’d be wrong.

Solution: Send the entire school board a copy of this.

If there's one thing the hot headed Senator from Arizona won't let stand, it's being called (and proven to be) a coward. McCain can't let the Ayers issue go because his ego and temper won't allow him. If I were advising him, I would tell him to stay clear of Ayers. But as someone who wants to see his campaign go down in flames for the good of the country, I think he should go full steam ahead -- the polls show this is a losing issue for him and playing the Ayers card at the third and final debate could seal the deal for Obama:

John McCain said Tuesday that Barack Obama is “probably ensured” that his association with 1960s radical William Ayers will come up in Wednesday’s debate.

“I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised that I didn’t have the guts” to bring up Ayers, McCain said on KMOX, a St. Louis radio station.

“I think he is probably ensured that it will come up this time.”

As for Obama? Cool as the other side of the pillow:

“I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face,” Obama said. “But I guess we've got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.” Read on...

The Seminal: McCain attacks ally once floated as his possible VP

GOPnot4me: John McCain's economic guru?

Wonk Room: This overpaid jackass failed to notice consumer purchasing trends, the rising price of oil, or the facts about climate change, but has the guts to demand that taxpayers bail him out.

The Washington Monthly: Obama's ideas are good enough to steal

MoJo Blog: The person who "knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the USA," drops down with some wisdom.

Hill's Country: Still made in the USA

The Zen Cabin: Anyone who has followed the FISA fight is probably familiar with James Cicconi. Let's give Mr. Cicconi the attention he deserves - we'll start just before things went to Hell in America.

Crackpot Press: Scientologist speaks out, fears being "suicided"

PERRspectives Blog: With the Republican nomination now safely secured, John McCain, the self-proclaimed "foot soldier in the Reagan revolution," is trying to reverse the hard right turn he took in the GOP primaries.

The Road to Surfdom: This should be a scandal because it reveals how the media's whole coverage of the Iraq invasion and occupaton - not just the opinion pieces but the so-called news as well - has been heavily shaped and dominated by the US military as part of a calculated and sustained campaign of misinformation...and American taxpayers foot the bill!

Roger Ailes: Making abstinence fun.

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Ali Eteraz, The Unapologetic Mexican, MetaFilter, Naked Politics

PERRspectives:

What a difference a week makes, especially when it comes to the rollercoaster American economy. No where is the impact of looming recession and the near-meltdown on Wall Street clearer than on the White House web site. Just days ago, the site boasted about President Bush's glorious stewardship of the U.S. economy. Now, the White House's economy web page reflects the mad scramble to ward off the twin crises of the housing market and the financial system.

A cached version of the White House web site from March 16, 2008 showed the last vestiges of rosy optimism and unbridled Bush boosterism. (The Google cache has since been updated.) In the upper left hand corner, an elegant animation proclaimed "President Bush's actions are moving our economy forward," "18,000 jobs created in December 2007," "Over 8.3 million new jobs created since August 2003" and "Unemployment rate remains low at 5%."

The usual fuzzy math was there as well, cynically designed as always to sell making President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent:

"The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are set to expire in less than three years. If Congress allows that to happen, 116 million taxpayers will see their taxes go up by $1,800 on average."

Some signs of the downturn were already present as well. Bush's disastrous appearance last week before the Economic Club of New York was front and center. And a run down of the steps being taken to confront the imploding housing market were highlighted as well.

But four days later, the main White House economy web page has gotten an emergency face-lift. The eye-catching animation crowing about Bush leading the economy forward is gone. After the U.S. shed 63,000 jobs in February and new jobless claims this week jumped by 22,000, the text about past job creation became history. And even the verbiage about making the tax cuts permanent has been deleted. And just days after the Federal Reserve intervened with its massive Bear Stearns bailout to halt the building Wall Street panic, the White House web site proclaims:

"The President remains deeply concerned about the housing issue and strongly believes that any government policies must be responsible. Government actions often have far-reaching and unintended consequences. Any time the government intervenes in the market, it must do so with clear purpose and great care."

Iraq Today: News and Views

Opinions You Should Have: Romney to spend more time with his money

p m carpenter's commentary: An electorate in the wilderness?

Jim Hightower: Beware of corporate "heroes"

Sunday Bookchat: The War on Terror's perversion of medicine. Jonahan Chait's distortion of Free Lunch. Science's defense of evolution. And lots more.

HOLY CRAP: Jesus 2.0 has arrived...Religion Dispatches...Eat, Pray, Loathe...Bush still trying to force taxpayers to fund private religious schools...Waterboarding for God...Bush's last budget is a National Moral Disgrace...The FundamentaList...The Coming Persecution...Sharia Law for the U.K.?...Spanish Bishops give new meaning to the "Bully" Pulpit...Murder in the name of some kind of God...More B.S. about God and Politics

Connecting.the.Dots: Move over, Halliburton. Dick Cheney's former company has been replaced as the Texas champion of ripping off American taxpayers in the "rebuilding" of Iraq.

Chris Floyd: Slander, Murder and Sixty Minutes: The Establishment Consensus on Iraq

The Rude Pundit: George W. Bush's final SOTU address reviewed as only the Rude One can.

The Washington Independent: Some are calling this new blog a "progressive Politico," but from day one (or month one, anyway; the site's been live for awhile) it's already more interesting than that.

Boing Boing: Racists adopt "Canadian" as a euphemism for "black."

MediaBloodhound: R2-D2 backs fellow robot, Mitt Romney

Oink, oink.

The Hill:

Senior Republican appropriators in the Senate have collected more money in earmarks than any other members of Congress, even though President Bush and GOP leaders have forcefully criticized "pork-barrel spending."

Not only have these lawmakers defied their leaders, they have also taken a much greater share of the pot set aside for rank-and-file Republicans than have senior Democrats. As a result, some on the Hill are grumbling privately that GOP appropriators are "not only the kings of pork, they're outright hogs," in the words of one Senate Republican aide.

But Republican appropriators argue they are following the rules, that their work is open to public scrutiny, and that they are taking care of their constituents' needs. They also say that Bush is holding them to a double standard by submitting to Congress specific spending requests while deriding lawmakers' spending priorities as wasteful earmarks.

Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has collected $774 million worth of earmarks in 12 spending bills. After Cochran, Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the second-ranking Republican on Appropriations, secured more money for special projects than any other member of Congress: $502 million.

Rep. Bill Young (Fla.), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, is the second-biggest recipient of earmarked funds in the House, securing $161 million. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the subcommittee's chairman, secured $162 million in funds.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that tracks earmarks and federal spending, compiled the figures.

The Republicans' status as the biggest earmark winners in Congress is surprising because they no longer enjoy majority control. As a result, they have seen their share of the federal spending pie sliced by a third.

FDL:

The FISA bill (S. 2248) mark-up is set for tomorrow morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The business meeting is set for 10 am ET - am waiting to hear whether C-Span will be covering it, but I've put in a request. Here's hoping...

In the meantime, I thought we could spend the day constructively nudging on two very important issues: (1) no telecom immunity and (2) no basket warrants.

The ACLU has a lot of information on FISA, including a section-by-section analysis of the bill and a one page summary sheet. Useful stuff.

We put together quite a list of ways to phrase opposition to the current FISA legislation's most odious provisions - you can find the full compendium here. (My personal favorite was Prairie Sunshine's "Democracy = Rule of Law, not Lawless Rule.") Please call and FAX the offices of the Senate Judiciary Committee members regarding their obligation to uphold the rule of law, the Constitution, and the will of the people not just the rule of George. Via OldCoastie, here is a link to efax, which allows you to FAX them for free.

Christy has compiled names and numbers at FDL.

Things aren't going well, thanks to our LieberDems Schumer, Feinstein (what a surprise!) and Whitehouse. We need to get loud, people.

From an email from an ACLU rep.:

The Democratic Judiciary Committee staff is floating substitution language that would make the government responsible for illegal activity committed by the telecom companies.

Congress must reject any attempts to provide immunity to those that broke the law. If the government assumes legal responsibility for lawbreaking for the telecoms, the companies will be let-off the hook for their illegal actions. It also means the taxpayers will be responsible for any damages. The ACLU strongly and firmly opposes the substitution, which is, in essence, telecom immunity.

If this substitution language gets enacted, we know that the government will stop the lawsuits by arguing: states secrets, executive privilege, and sovereign immunity in order to stop the people from having their day in court against the telecom giants.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the domestic surveillance legislation tomorrow morning.

And the House is expected to vote tomorrow too, although it is not yet clear exactly what they are voting on yet.

Photo by Alan Chin/BagNewsNotes

Mike had this in his Blog Round Up, but it deserves its own post.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

CREW provided thousands of pages of documents to the Washington Post that revealed how the federal government failed to take advantage of offers of assistance from foreign nations after Hurricane Katrina. The documents can be found on our website here. The United States government didn't collect most of the $854 million offered:

The struggle to apply foreign aid in the aftermath of the hurricane, which has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $125 billion so far, is another reminder of the federal government's difficulty leading the recovery. Reports of government waste and delays or denials of assistance have surfaced repeatedly since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005.

Administration officials acknowledged in February 2006 that they were ill prepared to coordinate and distribute foreign aid and that only about half the $126 million received had been put to use. Now, 20 months after Katrina, newly released documents and interviews make clear the magnitude of the troubles.