Politics and other nightmares

For the "well, duh" file. Sen. Tom Coburn, an outspoken critic of government waste, said a new GAO report of duplication of federal government redundancy "will make us all look like jackasses." Some of the details:

I noticed last week that the deserting Democrats of the Indiana House ramped up the rhetoric a little, going from defenders of the middle class to "sticking up for the working class." I suppose next it'll be the "huddled masses" they're in the corner of. Now, there is this ramping-up from the governor:

Indiana's governor denounced state Democrats who fled the state to halt debate on a right-to-work bill.

Sounds like a plan to me:

The cost-cutting battle lines are drawn in the U.S. Congress. But the fight will affect only maybe a sixth of spending, with big-ticket items like defense and Social Security getting a bipartisan pass for now. Still, tackling even that small slice would save money and reassure markets. A temporary government shutdown would be a small price to pay.

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Let's scratch him from the list of presidential candidates to root for:

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who presided over the passage of a health care overhaul nearly identical to the federal overhaul is still defending his state-based starter-version of ObamaCare.

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Fantasy:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says 80 percent of the country would be served by high-speed rail service once a national network of lines is complete.

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He compares high-speed rail today to where the interstate highway system was 50 years ago. After half a century, the dream of a national network of interstate highways has become a reality.

The heat:

Color me extremely disappointed with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels right now:

Just because the governor has majorities of his party in both House and Senate, that doesn't mean he's going to get everything he wants:

A bill to abolish Indiana's 1,008 township boards failed in the Senate Tuesday -- an ominous sign for the township reform campaign pushed by the governor and the Chamber of Commerce.

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Speaking of government shutdowns, how would you like to live in Belgium?

Unable — or unwilling — to work together, bickering politicians have left unassuming Belgium without a fully functioning government for eight months, the longest for any nation in Europe since World War II.

Another judge has upheld Obamacare's individual mandate. For those keeping score, that makes three Democratic-appointed judges in favor, two Republican-appointed ones against. Philip Klein at The American Spectator zeroes in the scary part of the ruling that makes clear "how broadly one has to interpret congressional powers to find the mandate constitutional":

Omigod, state government has shut down! Are you prepared for the end of life as we know it, as the big, gaping hole of anarchy opens wide to swallow us all? Actually, the longer the Democrats stay away, the less mischief the General Assembly can create. Any big or important bills that missed deadlines for action can be introduced as amendments later on, so nothing really crucial is likely to be left undone. Maybe that's why Gov. Daniels is so nonchalant: