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1.) Proof big government works! — Just kidding. Quite the opposite actually. TheDC’s Caroline May reports on the perpetual comedy skit that is our government:
“The idea of government money going toward efforts to lobby the government sounds like some type of joke, but it’s not. Since March 2010, 30 states and Washington, D.C. have received $230 million in obesity prevention grants under the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Initiative (CPPW), a program established in the massive 2009 stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to public records, however, money from some of the CPPW grants and also from the Community Transformation Grants (CTGs) — another Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program established to bolster to the CPPW’s efforts — have been and are being used to lobby local governments in support of policies including sugar and soda taxes.”
Just as our founders intended.
2.) Rednecks for Romney — At least one person from the South likes Mitt Romney — redneck-joke telling comedian Jeff Foxworthy. TheDC’s David Martosko reports:
“A press release Sunday from the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney announced three Monday campaign events in Mississippi and Alabama where ‘Blue Collar Comedy Tour’ comedian Jeff Foxworthy will stump for votes with the former Massachusetts governor. The comic, an Atlanta native, first tweeted his endorsement on Thursday. Foxworthy is best known for turning ‘You might be a redneck’ one-liners into an eight-figure salary, and for hosting the television quiz show ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'”
Are you smarter than a 5th grader? The answer is no if Jeff Foxworthy’s endorsement sways your vote.
3.) Give them a break, it’s MSNBC, not National Geographic — Even a network with such intellectual Godzillas as Meghan McCain, Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz get things wrong sometimes. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“For all of MSNBC’s efforts to promote public policy on education, the graphics department at that network might be proof there is a lot of work that needs to be done in this area. During Alex Witt’s 7 a.m. program on Saturday on the channel, Alabama was labeled as Mississippi and Mississippi as Alabama.”
In MSNBC’s defense, almost a quarter of their staff have triple digit IQs, including nearly — though not quite — 10 percent of their on-air talent.
4.) Holder ain’t a folder — There are now 120 congressmen who think it’s about time Holder call it a career. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports:
“Republican Reps. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin and Bob Goodlatte of Virginia have signed onto the official House resolution of ‘no confidence’ in Attorney General Eric Holder for his role in Operation Fast and Furious. With their signatures, a total of 120 U.S. House members have now either demanded Holder’s resignation, expressed no confidence in his job performance via a formal House resolution, or both. That amounts to more than a quarter of the U.S. House of Representatives and nearly half of the Republican caucus. Three U.S. senators — Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Jim DeMint of South Carolina and James Inhofe of Oklahoma — have also called for Holder to resign. So have two sitting governors, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and all major Republican presidential candidates.”
It’s a shame so few are willing to defend Holder, not even the drug cartel kingpins who he so generously lavished with arms.
5.) Poll of the day: Romney leads in Mississippi — Rasmussen Reports poll of Mississippi Republican presidential primary: Mitt Romney 35%, Rick Santorum 27%, Newt Gingrich 27%, Ron Paul 6%. The primary will take place on March 13.
6.) BIRTHDAYS! — First lady Jane Pierce turns 206 … Founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk turns 131 … Icelandic author Þórbergur Þórðarson turns 123 (hat tip: Magnús Ver Magnússon) … Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney turns 65 … ABC News White House correspondent and the guy who should be hosting ABC’s “This Week,” Jake Tapper, turns 43.