As I was paying bills the other night during the Olympics, I saw yet another of those annoying 2010 U.S. Census commercials and decided - as I was grumbling about government waste under my breath - that it was time to award another Golden Fire Hydrant.

The U.S. government is spending $340 million to market the 2010 Census. About $145 million of that is for the creation and airing of television commercials, which can be seen during the most expensive time slots in TV (including a $2.5 million 30-second spot during the Super Bowl).

For far too long, members of the Minnesota National Guard’s 34th Infantry division – known as the “Red Bulls” – have been caught in a bureaucratic nightmare that delayed bonus pay they’d earned during their deployments in Iraq.  After many months and continued pressure from members of Congress in both parties, it appears as though this long-overdue problem is finally headed toward a solution.   

The Pentagon is stating now that they’ve issued orders to begin paying these troops, while blaming the problem on a loophole that prevented the payments until now. 

It’s been wild listening to some prominent Democrats this past week who seem completely clueless as to the message behind the amazing Republican victory in Massachusetts. Some are arguing that their candidate was bad or that local issues mattered or that Obama hasn’t been liberal enough (or conservative enough). Martha Coakley, the Democrat who lost the seat, stated in her concession speech that she lost partly because people are “angry about our two wars and our inability to properly care for those who return home after fighting.”

I suppose there is some anger out there about those issues, but that’s not the tenth of it. The citizens of Massachusetts and America are angry for a much, much bigger reason: Government is completely, utterly and infuriatingly out of control!

People are angry over huge bailouts, sleazy congressional deal-making, massive deficits and a seeming belief that government should control nearly every sector of our economy. People are angry that their voices don’t seem to be heard and their opinions don’t seem to matter.

Letter to House Speaker Asks for Remedy to Medicare/Medicaid Payment Inequities, Unfunded Mandates as Final Bill is Put Together

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : January 14, 2010
CONTACT: Luke Friedrich (952) 405-8510 / Andrew Foxwell (202) 225-2871

Washington, D.C. – As House and Senate negotiators continue their work on a final health care bill behind closed doors, U.S. Representatives Erik Paulsen, John Kline and Michele Bachmann sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today asking that payment inequities and unfunded mandates negatively affecting Minnesota be addressed in the bill. 

Under the current legislation, the future liabilities from the proposed Medicaid expansion are estimated to cost the state $2.1 billion over six years.  Moreover, the states of Nebraska, Vermont and Louisiana are set to receive hundreds of millions dollars in federal subsidies for increased Medicaid costs, whereas Minnesota and other states will get no similar assistance. The letter also requests a remedy for Minnesota’s longstanding Medicare reimbursement inequities.

The text of the letter is as follows: