TheDC Morning

TheDC Morning: Government spending, awesome edition

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) Government spending, awesome edition — TheDC’s Caroline May reports on the latest government boondoggle:

“Promoting travel to America can be expensive — especially if Uncle Sam is footing most of the bill. Documents exclusively obtained by The Daily Caller show extensive waste and mismanagement at the public-private partnership Brand USA, a government-backed travel-promotion agency established in May 2011 under Travel Promotion Act of 2009 to encourage foreign travelers to visit the United States. Some of the new organization’s recent expenses include $4,139 for 250 holiday cards, $3,592 for a holiday e-card and $2,449 for a ringtone version of the Rosanne Cash song ‘Land of Dreams,’ which was created specifically for a sweeping Brand USA promotional campaign.”

In fairness, these were pretty creative ways to waste money. Four thousand dollars for 250 holiday cards? Really? Did they each come with $15 attached?

2.) Let the water flow — Former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley is out with a new book that tells readers how to survive just about anything. Really anything, from car crashes to mountain lion attacks. But he also has some views on whether waterboarding is effective and whether it should be used, reports TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein:

“As part of his training as a SEAL, Courtley says he was waterboarded. Asked where he stands on the debate over whether the controversial interrogation method is effective, Courtley said while ‘it’s not fun …it’s very effective.’ He also said he believes that the U.S. should use the interrogation method — which critics decry as torture — ‘to get any information you can to prevent future terrorist attacks.'”

Read the full interview to see how to survive a zombie apocalypse. It may save your life.

3.) Tax riot — Perhaps the Democrats in the Senate should have read Obamacare before they voted for it. TheDC’s Patrick Howley reports:

“Democratic U.S. Senators and senators-elect sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week calling for a ‘delay in the implementation’of the medical device tax in Obamacare, the Wall Street Journal reports. The provision was an integral part of the version of the Obamacare law, which was passed in the Senate under Reid’s stewardship in 2009. It is set to take effect on January 1, 2013.”

4.) The Senate Indian Affairs committee will remain very boring  –– She shall serve on the Indian Affairs Committee no more, forever, reports TheDC’s Patrick Howley:

“Democratic Massachusetts Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will not serve on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in the next Congress, insiders on Capitol Hill confirm. … Warren, a self-identified Cherokee who listed herself as a Native American in the American Association of Law Schools Directory in 1984 before getting hired at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law Schools, told reporters this year that she knew of her ancestry because her ‘papaw’ had ‘high cheekbones, like all of the Indians do.’”

It looks like the Senate’s Indian Affairs committee is going to be denied its first (apparently) fake Indian in its history.

5.) Tweet of Yesterday — David Burge: The spending will continue until the deficits improve.

6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Kim Jong Un’s Work Posted on Internet Homepage of Russian Organization”

VIDEO: Bob Woodward says “there’s a civil war in the Democratic Party”

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Jamie Weinstein