Quick Hits

I figure there's been a few things in the news that I haven't talked about yet, so let me rectify that.

- President Barack Obama promised that he would enact a spending freeze effective with the 2011 budget that would keep spending at the 2010 budget levels for 3 years. Maybe he slept in when this was covered at Harvard Law, but there’s this thing called the separation of powers that prevents one branch of the government from intruding too much on another. And according to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, federal spending falls under the duties of…the Legislative Branch. Funny that a Constitutional law professor missed that part of the Constitution, huh?

- Nancy Pelosi stated that she would do everything in her power to get the health care reform bill passed. Considering she essentially passed the House version of this bill by 3 votes the first time around, and there’s still a matter of reconciliation to address, I’m not sure she should be so confident of the outcome because conditions have changed since December. Failure by the Congressional Democrats to see this will result in the health care reform bill being watered down or defeated outright.

- Newly elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown was sworn in yesterday after a longer-than-necessary delay. When similar situation occurred in NY-23, the Democrat was sworn in immediately to vote for the health care reform bill in the House. Wouldn’t have anything to do with Brown being a Republican, would it?

- Senator Al Franken lambasted the Obama Administration for a lack of leadership on the health care reform bill. He cited how they failed to give Senate Democrats direction on how to proceed. Although I agree with Franken, I have to question the reason for his objection. After all, doesn’t he work for the people, not the White House?

- A recent report regarding the whereabouts of the funds from the Pork-A-Palooza bill shows that money was sent to Congressional districts…that don’t exist. Maybe that’s why the Obama Administration has taken the position that only some of the money is being misspent: because compared to the funds going to districts that don’t exist, the money being misspent is a drop in the bucket.

- In response to the recent controversy surrounding a pro-life television ad airing during the Super Bowl, “The View” co-host Joy Behar said that it was just as likely that Florida quarterback Tim Teboe could have been born a "pedophile rapist." Yeah, it’s possible that Teboe could have wound up as someone far less savory than what he has become. You know, like an unfunny talk show hack stinking up the airwaves on two different TV shows?

And finally...

- With the Super Bowl this Sunday, I’m torn as to who to root for. On the one hand, the Indianapolis Colts have proven to be an exceptional team on the field. Then again, the New Orleans Saints have proven to be an exceptional team off the field. Regardless of the score, I’m going to be happy for both teams because they’ve shown that they can do things right where it counts.