Pork: the only white meat...for Lamar Smith

After having lived in the Texas 21st Congressional District for a few years, I thought I had a handle on Lamar Smith. I appreciated the fact that he faced a generally angry mob last year just to hear his constituents' comments. I definitely appreciated his listening to my comments on the FairTax, and I appreciated his (office's) writing to me to explain why he didn't support it. (The short answer apparently involves his not having read the bill, it seemed to me.) I also appreciate that he hasn't rubber-stamped the immigration amnesty proposals swirling around Washington at the moment.

And, as it turns out (from the Club for Growth, he scored a 57 out of 100 for being pro-growth. About what I expected, in that regard.

Maybe that's why I'm so disappointed that, per this article, he voted in favor of 19 pork barrel projects ranging from a swimming pool in California to tourism development in Kentucky (I'll save them the money on that: there's this horse race in May...). Each and every time an amendment came up to strip a pork project from a bill, dear Mr. Smith voted to keep it in. Apparently he believes our government isn't already wasting enough money as it is.

And, while I expected Ron "Dr. No" Paul to have the best score, out of the Austin-area Congressional delegation, on these 19 amendments (which he easily did, voting yes on all 19), I would have expected Mr. Smith to have a better score than Lloyd Doggett, the neighboring Democrat. Yet, as it turns out, Mr. Doggett voted yes on three of the amendments, which is three more than were supported by Mr. Smith. Pathetic.

Of course, his November opponent, John Courage, really doesn't provide much of an alternative in that respect. Content to watch Social Security slowly run dry, Mr. Courage also seems to support throwing money at other problems (of course, without mentioning how he intends to fund it), most notably education, in the hope that somehow it'll help, this time. Somehow that doesn't seem terribly pro-growth either.

Sadly, TX-21 seems stuck with no really good choices and another two years of more of the same. But just in case something actually changes, we'll keep an eye open.

Intentionally Misleading?

Drudge currently is carrying the headline, "Cynthia McKinney Missing In Action; no-show this week in Congress..." That's all well and good; it's been all over Atlanta news that she's skipped out this week, or at least Boortz was talking about the story.

The problem is that Drudge has included a picture of Ms. McKinney in a group of people dancing. It appears as if Drudge is wanting the viewers to think that she's out partying instead of going to her job. Now, I certainly don't care much for Ms. McKinney's previous statements/actions, but come on. Is it really necessary to attempt to mislead people in this way?

Joe Wilson, Your 15 Minutes Are Up

Check this article detailing the truth about Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. So why was the media so quick to pile on Bush for making a claim in his SotU speech that Wilson actually corroborated? Why were the Democrats so quick to adopt Wilson & Plame as their cause du jour (you know, till Cindy came along)?

Really, why is this still a story?

CBS Fall Lineup Lays an Egg

Actually, many. Hey, someone's gotta say it.

so maybe it does buy happiness after all...

Money doesn't buy happiness, so they say. But apparently it does buy sleep.

As for me, I'd be happier if I slept more.

Just so long as it doesn't include the "eagle pose"...

Is Yoga for Geeks an idea whose time has come? I know I probably need it.

"All the news that's fit to print"...and then some

James Lileks gives a good idea of the kind of helpful scoops we can continue to expect from the New York Times here. Given that my father continues to get his news from the Times Online (and send stories to me at least twice a week...), he should be able to corroborate that they're heading in a bad direction.

Social Isolation

According to this article, Americans are more socially isolated than we used to be.

And by pointing this out here, I suppose I'm not helping that trend.

I am so glad I don't use AOL...

...because I'll never have to deal with a customer service rep like this one. Language warnings apply.

Hi Mom

It's amazing the depths to which some people will go just to post comments on other people's blogs. Given my reason for creating this blog, don't expect much, and you won't be disappointed.