Auditors Fault Treasury Oversight of Bailout Funds
The Treasury Department has failed to address a number of critical issues while implementing the $700 billion financial rescue plan, including how to ensure its efforts are successful, the Government Accountability Office said.

Boehner Fires Warning Shot Across Treasury
House GOP Leader John Boehner and every other member of the House Republican leadership (both outgoing and incoming)today sent this letter to Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke criticizing the glaring lack of consistency and transparency in how the first $350 billion in bailout money is being distributed, and seeking the answers to a series of questions before Treasury or the Fed even think about going back up to Capitol Hill to ask for the other $350 billion in remaining bailout funds.

Liberal Governors Want Federal Bailout
U.S. governors will ask that any federal stimulus plan for the states include as much as $100 billion in aid to help cover the swelling costs of social services, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich said.

Obama Rebuked: Conservative GA Senator Wins in Landslide
Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss has won re-election in a runoff, dashing Democratic hopes of capturing enough Senate seats to thwart Republican filibusters. Saxby won with nearly 60% of the vote.

New Capitol Visitors Center Cost Taxpayers $621 million
The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today expressed dismay over the exorbitant final price tag for the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC). Initially conceived in the early 1990s and projected to cost $71 million, the CVC has become an example of out-of-control government contracting and mismanagement. After costs ballooned and construction schedules spiraled out of control, the three-level, underground monument to congressional excess finally came in at a whopping $621 million and three years behind schedule.

Heritage Foundation Blasts New Visitor’s Center
This exhibit is Congress’ temple to liberals’ “living Constitution,” the eternal font of lawmakers’ evolving mandate to achieve the nation’s ideals. No fixed meanings here, only open-ended “aspirations.” In this distorted view, the Constitution is an empty vessel, to be adapted to the times, as change requires. It means nothing — or anything.

Pope warns university students against the isolation of technology
Greeting professors, staff and students from the University of Parma, Italy today, the Holy Father cautioned of the dangers of isolating students and the university from the whole of society, especially through information technology. Students today are in danger of losing this balance, the Holy Father explained, due to the increased use of information technologies. “On the one hand, they run the risk of a growing reduction in their capacity for concentration and mental application on an individual level; on the other, that of isolating themselves individually in an increasingly virtual reality.”

Unlicensed Abortion Center Owner Pleads No Contest, Likely Headed to Prison
The owner of a chain of abortion centers in California entered a no contest plea on Monday to charges of pretending to be a physician and doing abortions without a medical license. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, pleaded to seven felony counts in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Florida Governor’s wedding targeted by homosexual activists
Following the recent electoral victory of a marriage amendment proposed for the Florida constitution, homosexual activists plan to demonstrate outside the church wedding and reception of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist next Friday. The GOP Governor supported the passage of the amendment.

GOP Field May Clear for a Jeb Bush Senate Run
Still popular in Florida, former Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he's interested in the seat Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up, and the field of possible candidates could quickly narrow to make way for the president's younger brother. Bush, 55, won praise from Democrats and Republicans alike for leading the state through eight hurricanes over a two-year period. He used standardized testing to overhaul the education system, was credited with making government more efficient and lowered taxes to make Florida more business-friendly.

Gov: Napolitano has no family so she can work long hours
Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) stuck his foot firmly in his mouth when he chatted with the press at the National Governors Conference yesterday. He gave his reasons for supporting Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security, most of which revolve around Napolitano’s lifestyle “Janet’s perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote literally 19-20 hours a day to it,” said Rendell.

Yon: Afghanistan is like a Jurassic Park
Afghanistan is like time traveling. Vast expanses of rugged landscape, mostly unadorned by man-made structures, all framed by stories of savagery and conquest, create a picture of forever. A sense that human and geologic changes occur at nearly the same pace. Many of the people remain arguably “pre-historic” in the sense that illiterate people do not chronicle their knowledge and experience into writing or durable art. Moving around the countryside, a man could half expect to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex come stomping over a ridge.

Islamic Terrorists Offended by Islamic Terrorist Name
If the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) had its way, media reporting on terrorist activity would exclude “any reference to Islam” – whatever the affiliation, identity or motivation of the perpetrators.

Brownback vows to fight detainee transfer to Kansas
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas says he'll introduce legislation and take other steps to prevent the transfer of terror suspect detainees to Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas.

Lawrence Officer Struck by Suspect’s Car in Chase
A Lawrence police officer was struck by the fleeing vehicle on Highway 40 east of Big Springs, police chief Ron Olin said. A police spokesman said the injured officer was in stable condition Tuesday night.

Sebelius wants Federal Bailout Money
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today said she appreciated the opportunity to lobby President-elect Barack Obama on behalf of a stimulus package designed to help states deal with the weak economy.

Bad Economy? Shawnee County Politicians Want Pay Raise
Commissioners Shelly Buhler, Vic Miller and Ted Ensley plan to take up a resolution sponsored by Miller that would set new salaries for the county’s 24 elected officials and department heads, most of whom just received pay raises in March 2007.

New Capitol Visitor Center Fails to Honor Faith

“The Capitol Visitor Center is designed to tell the history and purpose of our nation's Capitol, but it fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America’s success. While the Architect of the Capitol has pledged to include some references to faith, more needs to be done. You cannot accurately tell the history of America or its Capitol by ignoring the religious heritage of our Founders and the generations since who relied on their faith for strength and guidance. The millions of visitors that will visit the CVC each year should get a true portrayal of the motivations and inspirations of those who have served in Congress since its establishment.

“The current CVC displays are left-leaning and in some cases distort our true history. Exhibits portray the federal government as the fulfillment of human ambition and the answer to all of society’s problems. This is a clear departure from acknowledging that Americans’ rights ‘are endowed by their Creator’ and stem from ‘a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.’ Instead, the CVC’s most prominent display proclaims faith not in God, but in government. Visitors will enter reading a large engraving that states, ‘We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.’ This is an intentional misrepresentation of our nation’s real history, and an offensive refusal to honor America's God-given blessings. As George Washington stated clearly in his first inaugural address:

‘It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge.’

“The fundamental principles of the freedom we enjoy in this country stem from our Founding Fathers’ beliefs in a higher power, beliefs put forth in the Declaration of Independence and manifest throughout our Constitution,” said Senator DeMint. “If we cease to acknowledge this fact, we may cease to enjoy some of the freedoms we take for granted. We must not censor historical references to God for the sake of political correctness. And we must truthfully represent the limited form of government the Constitution lays out so that our ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ So help us God.”