Thursday -- April 7, 2005
 PROGRAMMING NOTE
It is not a good idea to go on a 50 hour fast, and then on the morning of your birthday have a glass of champagne before you go on the air. Talk about an empty stomach. JACKSONVILLE TONIGHT Belinda and I are looking forwarding to meet our Jacksonville, Florida listeners at the WOKV talkfest this evening! Oh .. .Hannity will be there also! That would be why the audience will be full of screaming young women. More upcoming appearances. THE SNUB THAT WASN'T
When the entourage that is now in Rome was announced to represent the United States, it consisted of 5 people: - President George W. Bush
- First Lady Laura Bush
- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
- Former President Bill Clinton
- Former President George H.W. Bush
Immediately, the media jumped all over the omission of Jimmy Carter. The only president to receive Pope John Paul II at the White House, surely he should have been included. Obviously, this was a vicious, mean and petty snub on the part of George W. Bush. He was playing politics with the Pope! The morning news shows yesterday were abuzz with various theories, and the media wondered why if there were only five slots, why didn't Condi Rice give up her seat? Surely Jimmy Carter, a former president, was more important.
Between the statements from the Carter Center and the White House press office, there was still confusion. Well, now we finally have our answer. Fox News' Brit Hume reported yesterday about New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine's outrage at the supposed Carter snub. To find out what really happened, somebody finally got to Jimmy Carter and now we know the truth.
Carter was invited to join the delegation and declined, saying that because of the limited number of invitations, he would step aside for other people who wanted to go. Why he didn't make this public two days ago? Probably because he was enjoying watching the screw job the Bush administration was getting in the media over the last 48 hours. So who's playing politics with the Pope's funeral now? Not the Bush administration.
By the way, as for Senator Jon Corzine, he now freely admits he has no evidence of a Carter snub, and that he basically made the whole thing up. Not that's a real surprise, don't you think?
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
 Every year the Citizens Against Government Waste publishes their annual list of federal pork-barrel spending. It's called the Congressional Pig Book. To get an idea where your hard-earned tax dollars are going, it's worth taking a look at what made this year's list.
In a list of some 14,000 pork projects, supported by politicians of both parties, the total tab for this year's spending is $27.3 billion. With a national debt in the trillions and an annual deficit of hundreds of billions, this is all the more outrageous because it's borrowed money. So not only are politicians buying votes with pork-barrel spending, but they're financing it. So now future generations will pay interest on today's pork.
At any rate, here are some of the projects that made the list: - $3,000,000 for the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. That's interesting...I thought foundations were for private, charitable foundations. And since when is Cal Ripken's dad hurting for cash?
- $1.7 million for the International Fertilizer Development Center. With all the crap in Washington, you'd think they'd have all the free fertilizer they need.
- $100,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation. Tiger Woods was the highest-paid athlete in the world last year, with earnings of $80 million. Why you and I need to kick in a hundred grand for his foundation is beyond me.
The list goes on and on. There are some that are outraged at the list of wasteful spending, but just pause and ask yourself. Do you expect your Congressman or woman to "bring home the bacon?" Perhaps you're part of the crowd that thinks government spending is free money, and everyone should get their "fair share."
Oh, and when it comes to government spending, there no longer is any difference between Democrats and Republicans. In fact, George Bush and the Congressional Republicans are the biggest spenders in this nation's history.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
Columnist Walter Williams has nearly stopped flying commercially for one simple reason: the idiotic security screening procedures of the TSA. He rightfully calls them stupid, and provides examples.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko thanked the United States in a meeting of a joint session of Congress for helping free and fair elections to take place in his country. Between the non-stop Pope-A-Thon and the Bush-bashing media, you may have missed this one.
The mystery of the Terri Schiavo memo that caused all the controversy in the Senate has now been solved. A staffer in Republican Senator Mel Martinez's office produced it. So much for the idea of a Democratic conspiracy.
If Congress really wants to reform the United Nations, they need to start with the World Health Organization. James Glassman says the incompetence there is much worse than the Oil-For-Food program.
Sandy Berger's plea bargain for stuffing classified documents down his pants is just the latest case of another Clinton crony rolling over for his boss. Dick Morris says we've seen this very thing happen before.
When it comes to religion, the left is out of touch, writes Ann Coulter. She cites the Schiavo matter, Ashley Smith's peaceful surrender of Brian Nichols and other events.
The collapse of communism in Poland can be directly attributed to the Pope's elevation of the Solidarity movement there. Larry Elder also says an alliance with Ronald Reagan hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
The deal the administration cut with Sandy Berger to let him off the hook was a joke. Gary Aldrich says the case should have proceeded to court, where we could hear all of the evidence against Berger.
With the Bush administration's proposal to reform Social Security getting nowhere, Republican leaders in Congress are trying to figure out what to do next.
After writing a column supporting drilling for oil in ANWR (The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska,) Bruce Ramsey heard from those opposed to drilling there. He takes a look at their arguments, point by point. How could someone get rid of a copy of one of Neal's books signed by Neal, Belinda and Royal? We're taking away their listener slot so there's an opening now! | 
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