1.) CBO likes Boehner’s revised plan — The CBO didn’t have good things to say about John Boehner’s debt-ceiling plan the first time around, but the second time’s the charm. TheDC’s Amanda Carey reports: “The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Wednesday evening released its score of House Speaker John Boehner’s revamped plan to cut spending and increase the debt ceiling. The prognosis: the new version is a vast improvement. According to the CBO, Boehner’s cuts now exceed the amount by which his plan would initially raise the debt ceiling. The analysis concludes that his proposal would cut and cap spending by $917 billion over ten years — slightly more than the $900 billion and first debt ceiling increase permitted under the Boehner plan. It would also cut $22 billion in spending over the next year, and reduce discretionary expenditures each year thereafter. Boehner’s new plan also requires Congress to propose at least another $1.8 trillion in spending cuts.” So of course, Senate Democrats are vowing to vote it down, and if it gets past them, Obama is vowing to veto it. Remember all that business about not calling his bluff? It doesn’t seem to be working out the way he wanted.
2.) No wonder Congress doesn’t want to cut spending — Here’s something to remember the next time your favorite Dem in Congress spouts off about the haves and the have-nots. TheDC’s Caroline May reports: “The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and Our Generation (OG) advocacy groups released a report Wednesday showing that federal legislators earn 3.4 times more than the average full-time American worker, and are among the highest paid legislators in the industrialized world. The report compares congressional salaries and benefits with what private sector workers receive, and with those of foreign legislators. According to the report, members of Congress receive an annual salary of $174,000 — which alone puts them in the highest-paid 5 percent of U.S. workers. They also, however, receive a host of additional benefits that put their total annual compensation at around $285,000. By comparison, the average full-time American employee earns just $50,875 annually. The report also compared the American ratio of legislator pay to citizen salary with the same ratios in 13 developed countries, including Spain, Norway, France, the UK, Sweden, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan. Of those 13, only Japan had a higher ratio.” Do you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth?
3.) Jay Carney continues to impress — Speaking of overpaid government employees, TheDC’s Neil Munro reports on another one: “White House spokesman Jay Carney stirred the partisan pot today, telling a roomful of openly skeptical reporters that a debt-ceiling compromise is easy to reach, that Republicans are partisan time-wasters, and that post-Aug. 2 spending decisions would be similar to life-or-death decisions in a Nazi concentration camp. Without ready cash to pay for every government program, he said at the White House’s daily press conference, ‘It’s a Sophie’s Choice. Who do you save? Who do you pay?’ ‘Sophie’s Choice’ refers to a 1982 movie that depicts a Jewish mother being forced to choose which one of her two children should be saved from one of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist death-camps… A pugnacious Carney pushed back when reporters asked why the administration is demanding a deal large enough to continue current spending levels until after the 2012 election. A short-term deal, he said, increases investors’ uncertainty, and ‘only casts further doubt … on whether Washington can get its act together.’ He ridiculed House Speaker John Boehner’s effort to get a short-term extension through the House, in the face of objects from congressional Democrats. ‘Why are we voting on measures that have no chance of becoming law?’” Here’s another question: Why does Jay Carney keep trying to do the Jedi Mind Trick? He couldn’t convince a bear to defecate in the middle of some trees.
4.) WH: LOL — And TheDC’s C.J. Ciaramella reports on yet another overpaid government employee: whoever is responsible for the White House’s official Twitter feed. “The White House ‘rickrolled’ someone today, proving humanity may never give up, never let go of the long-running Internet prank. Responding to an unnamed person, the official White House Twitter feed wrote: ‘@wiggsd Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes. Here’s something more fun: http://t.co/ca31My7 #WHChat’ The link, of course, redirects viewers to the music video of Rick Astley’s 1987 pop hit, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’” HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA!!! Ah-heh. Ahhhhh. Hey, give the White House a break. This is the closest they’ve gotten to presenting a debt-ceiling plan.
5.) Doughty Sanchez — You have to hand it to Rick Sanchez. No matter how many times THOSE PEOPLE try to keep him down, he just keeps getting back up. TheDC’s Paul Conner reports: “The press box at FIU Stadium just got a little louder. Former CNN host Rick Sanchez will call Florida International University football games starting this fall, CBSMiami.com reports. The Miami university is picked to win the Sun Belt conference this year, which means that Sanchez should have plenty of reasons to get excited this season… Jorge Sedano, the man Sanchez is replacing, found the whole situation laughable, despite losing his position. ‘I do have to be honest. I did LOL when I heard about the Rick Sanchez news. I mean come on? That’s hysterical. No?’ Sedano tweeted.” Nonetheless, congratulations to Sanchez for convincing someone to pay him to holler words into a microphone. Let’s just hope he’s more careful this time as he’s driving home from the stadium.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “Talk about energy policy for thirty tweets. One Tracy-style joke, I’ve got MSN stabbing me. Hey, this is why everyone hates the media.”
VIDEO: Ending Spending launches debt-limit
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