Where's Wilma's Ice?

Wilma's wrath is weaker than what was delivered from Katrina and Ritta, thankfully. Now we're left to wonder: Where's the ice? Do you think that some of that ice that started in St. Louis and went to Cayjun country and ended up in Maine -- yes Maine -- some weeks after Katrina -- is headed south of Atlanta?

Many taxpayers, myself included, knocked on the doors of the US Representatives and US Senate to insist upon a Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge. For a spell it seemed as if we were going to spend every nickle in the world -- and then go to the mints and make more. The aftermaths of hurricanes should not be a chance to write big checks.

The new trend shows the introduction of some legislation to offset the cost of hurricane relief with tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts.

Speaker Dennis Hastert has put forward a four-point plan that would find at least $50 billion in savings in mandatory spending programs; hold the line on spending in appropriations bills; bring forward additional spending cuts or a rescissions package; and permanently eliminate 98 duplicative, wasteful, and unnecessary government programs. Source, CAGW.

The arrival of the hurrican has changed the rules and the game the politicians have been playing. We finally have leverage and a new sense of priorities. Waste-cutting is mandatory -- otherwise we need to NUKE the Gulf Region.

While it seems like common sense to you and me, offsetting the costs of hurricane relief with cuts in wasteful and non-essential spending faces powerful opposition - from the special interests who benefit from this spending, the big-government advocates who oppose any and all spending cuts, and those in Congress who want to raise your taxes to pay for the hurricanes' cost.