Keith Devens .com

News/Politics quick links

Congress is spending like a drunken sailor (via JC) (little more here):

"The numbers are astonishing," ... "Congress is now spending money like a drunken sailor. And I've never known a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination that this Congress has."

And the new prescription drug bill, Medicare, and government spending in general, is a total mess

There is nothing in this bill to control costs. There is a phony cost containment "trigger" that would require an unspecified "congressional response" once the general revenues (revenues beyond the Medicare payroll tax) account for 45 percent of program spending. Currently, 30 percent of Medicare costs are being paid for from the general treasury. When Medicare was enacted in 1965, the government's lead actuary projected that the hospital program (Part "A") would grow to $9 billion by 1990. It ended up actually costing more than $66 billion by 1990. This is reality.

There is a larger point to all of this. Who is looking out for the future of the country? This administration and Congress have increased federal spending over the past three years by 21 percent, resulting in budget deficits for the last two years of $559 billion, with next year's deficit estimated to be about $500 billion. We passed some of the largest and most expensive bills in the history of the Congress in the past three years - at the same time passing some of the largest tax cuts ever.

All of this at a time when America has taken on more peacekeeping and nation- building around the world than at any time since World War II - all at huge costs. And we see a dangerous and strong protectionist movement beginning to dominate our historical commitment to free trade that will have a negative impact on our trade and institutional relations as well as our economy.

I gave my first speech on the Senate floor in February 1997 in support of the balanced-budget amendment. Republicans used to believe in balanced budgets. Republicans used to believe in fiscal responsibility, limited international entanglements and limited government. We have lost our way.

We have come loose from our moorings. The Medicare reform bill is a good example of our lack of direction, purpose and responsibility. If we don't get some control over this out-of-control spending and policy-for-the-moment decision-making, we will put America on a course that we may not be able to recover from.

Our soldiers killed lots of bad guys who tried to ambush them. Kick ass.

Adam Yoshida: We Are Winning in Iraq. While I agree with his sentiment, his observations, and his conclusions, I still wonder where he got his hands on a copy of that "secret briefing" he refers to. [permalink above isn't currently correct (but I'm leaving it in the hope that it will be). Go to his main site and read, for now]

Update: He says he got it from Debka. Same deal with the permalinks though, so you'll have to scan his main site to find it.

Update: What’s in Howard Dean’s Secret Vermont Files?