Taking A Day Off

I guess I partied too hard with the folks in the apartment building last night because I am in no mood to blog this morning. That's a shame, too, because normally an article about earmarks like this one would have sent me through the roof.

Remember how the House promised "no more earmarks" to benefit for-profit companies? I sure do, and I was pleased by the announcement for some very good reasons:

Adopted because of repeated scandals over wasteful spending — the bridges to nowhere and expensive pet projects like a water-taxi service — the ban was intended to help eliminate earmark abuses. Critics say spending on earmarks, which added $16 billion to the federal budget last year, diverts money from higher priorities, typically does not require competitive bids and is often directed to experimental research that will never be used.

Well, thanks to some sneaky lobbyists, some ethically challenged members of the House (many of them Democrats), and some of our major universities, creative ways around the rule have been paved.

But I'm tired, my sinuses ache from all the fireworks smoke I inhaled, and I have a touch of dyspepsia from all the rich food I ate, so I'm not going to summon what little energy I have this morning to issue any kind of rant.

Go read the article and then bust some china. Or go back to bed and pull the covers over your head, which I what I am going to do.