Today is Friday, January 27. This is Punch the Clock Day, Fun at Work Day and National Toilet Day. It's also Chocolate Cake Day.
What week is this?
PolitiQuips
While it's not quite on the grand scale of the half-billion-dollar Solyndra solar scandal, a failed Indiana company is another example of wasteful government spending. Ener1, a manufacturer of batteries for electric cars, received $118.5 million in federal stimulus funds and a visit by Vice President Joe Biden (who called it "Enron1"). A year later the firm has filed for bankruptcy.
Congressional investigators are haunted by the spooky disappearance of $12 million allocated to Arlington National Cemetery. Taxpayers hope they'll keep digging to find out where it's buried.
Good news: one federal agency is shrinking, but not because of any demands by Congress or the administration. The Government Printing Office has reduced its work force and cut spending by $17.9 million this fiscal year -- thanks to online delivery of the Congressional Record and other printed materials.
Instead of putting the squeeze on income earners in the private sector, President Obama ought to turn his attention to Washington. IRS records show federal employees owed $3,420,168,684 in unpaid taxes for 2010, up 3 percent over the previous year.
Warren Buffet's secretary may be in a higher tax bracket than her boss (who owes back taxes, by the way) but it's hard to feel sorry for her. Forbes magazine points out if she's taxed at more than 15 percent (Buffet's rate) she would have to be earning more than $200,000 a year.
Here's a clue to what the president thinks about the intelligence of members of Congress. Academics say his State of the Union address was written on the eighth-grade reading level.
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