So, looks like we’ve got a deal on the new stimulus package (assuming you find a milquetoast agreement between a bunch of spineless weasels stimulating). Oh, I don’t doubt that there are some good things in there, but I think we’re gonna have to put a few trillion more dollars on the tab to get things turned around. I’d really hoped to have a WPA program to rebuild things, and maybe a CCC-like project to give younger folks the opportunity to see what it’s like to work while doing some good.
Instead, Democrats had to suck up to Republicans like Susan Collins (who managed to strip protection for whistleblowers out of the bill), just to get something passed. Sounds like Harry Reid tried to screw over Nancy Pelosi on the whole deal, too. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever.
The financial CEOs were less than impressive yesterday testifying before Congress, attempting to justify their huge bonuses in light of their companies using taxpayer dollars to fund them. Barney Frank appeared to stump them by asking why they should get a bonus for doing the right thing, and wondering what they’d do differently if they didn’t get a bonus.
Speaking of bailouts, Nadia Suleman, the poor woman’s version of Angelina Jolie, now has a website up accepting donations to help fund her baby jones. Donate enough, and maybe you’ll get an embryo pendant or something (at least a Sammy the Stem Cell pin). I think all those anti-stem cell research right to lifers ought to be falling all over themselves bailing her out, personally. She’s a great poster child for the cause, and it’d be a helluva lot cheaper than putting money into healthcare and education for everybody’s kids (which would be welfare, and therefore bad).
Ford’s Theater just reopened after an 18-month, $25 million renovation, and the President and his wife were on hand. Not sure how good an idea that was, but it looks like they both came away unscathed, which is more than I can say for a dead Russian satellite and a US Iridium bird (part of the system that provides satellite phone service), that collided yesterday, destroying both. They’re tracking about 500 pieces of debris so far, and there’s a slight possibility that the ISS will be affected. As we get more crap up there, this sort of thing will no doubt become more frequent.
Oh well, look like it’s about time to get off the couch, and get ready for work. Have a good day.