Sunday Afternoon at the Last Manatee

If Dana Milbank can go through one month without mentioning Sarah Palin,then I will restrain myself over the next week from raving about the budget battles. Those patriotic Americans--Chris Smith and Michelle Bachmann--refuse to agree to any budget that doesn't eliminate the funding for Planned Parenthood. In fact, Bachmann has taken this theme up to raise funds for her PAC.

Let's hear it for Hapless Harry Reid who finally told the truth about the House's Budget. "It's the worst budget and worst written piece of legislation in U.S. history."

With the entire Mideast in flames,the House's elimination of foreign aid is even more prescient than ever before. It's sort of like Mitt Romney declaring how poor Obama is at creating jobs just as the jobs news shows over 250,000 private sector jobs having been created.

On the economic front, Robert Reich is right that the United States would have to create about 330,000 jobs per month through 2014 to get to 6.5% unemployment. With the Republican controlled states throwing hundreds of thousand public sector workers out of a job, we will not make it.

Give the Wisconsin demonstrators some kudos for keeping their sense of humor. After Fox ran footage of union strife with palm trees in the background, demonstrators have placed inflatable palm trees around the Capitol building. The democratic legislator who was tackled by police at the Capitol was actually tackled by police brought in from rural communities about 150 miles away by Scott Walker. Nice job, Rachel Maddow for this bit of news.

Congratulations to Rachel Maddow for her big bump in ratings. Good news for some of us but bad news for the state of the news in the United States. People are turning in so they can get some real news for a change as the major networks have stopped covering the Wisconsin and Midwest wars against the public sector. The Ohio parade for choice today got no coverage. It reminds me of the anti-Iraq war demonsotrations when compared to the teabaggers.

Let's hear it for David Koch. He's anti-Iraq war, pro gay marriage and pro legalizing medical marijuana. The New york Times decided to suck up in covering his MIT Koch Cancer Center. David is concerned that federal funding will be cut from programs on prostate cancer. Apparently he suffers from it and wants a cure found instead of treating his own. He also claimed that the hoax call to Scott Walker was identity theft. Now he can't call Senators because they'll believe it's a hoax. His good brother claimed on 60 Minutes that his other two libertarian brothers run their business like a criminal enterprise and that they can't stand anything they can't control.

Someone has to tell the Pentagon's spokespeople to stop using the term "The Left" when referring to any of their critics. This isn't the George W years. Really, honest to god human beings can be concerned about the treatment of the alleged Wikileaks leaker without having a political position. Keeping a detainee stripped and naked in solitary with all the lights on should raise concerns. This is especially true when this was being done for months prior to last week's charges being brought.

Charles Koch, the other evil brother, penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal explaining their position. A fascinating piece from a businessman. He hails Canada keeping the percentage of government spending below 15% of GDP, instead of our 25%. He waxes on about Canada's boom economy. What he doesn't tell the readers is that Canadians have guaranteed health care and a defense budget that is miniscule compared to the United States. This was all before the conservative Harper Government. In fact, part of Obama's argument for his health reform bill was that we were spending as a society some three times what Canada does in terms of % of GDP. If you add the national security budget,you have your difference. Another thing missing from Charles'op-ed is that Canadian banks had better controls and regulations so they didn't melt down like ours. In other words, he likes a regularted business environment that spends less on defense and provides all citizens with healthcare. Sounds good to me.

Another rainy day patriot is the CEO of 3M, who accused Barack Obama of being anti-business. He says he will move his company somewhere like Mexico or Canada where they appreciate business. Clever man. If he does, let's pass a law that all CEOs and executives must move to that country and pay their income tax. What he was suggesting was that 3M should benefit from NAFTA , while those in the headquarters benefit from the low personal income taxes. So boycott Post-Its.

Oh yeah, I forgot--it's now official--Barack Obama in two years created more private sector jobs than George W. Bush did in eight. By the end of 2011, he's be close to suprassing both Bushes' in job creation. I know you've heard this alot on television.