By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON
President Obama laid out the details of his $3.6 trillion budget for 2010 Thursday while calling special attention to $17 billion that's not there.
The president chose to highlight 121 programs that he wants to eliminate or reduce, representing less than one-half of 1% of the budget. More than half of the savings would be in defense; about 20% are in domestic programs also targeted by former President George W. Bush.
The effort to turn attention to fiscal austerity follows a three-month period in which Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus package and a $410 billion spending bill to complete the 2009 budget. The stimulus package includes funding for flood prevention and wastewater treatment programs Obama now says should be eliminated.
Police officers are among the worst speeders on Florida roads, according to a three-month Sun Sentinel investigation that used data from police SunPass toll records. The paper found that almost 800 cops from a dozen agencies drove 90 to 130 mph on highways, many of whom weren't on duty -- they were commuting to and from work in patrol cars. Since 2004, Florida officers exceeding the speed limit have caused at least 320 crashes and 19 deaths. Only one officer went to jail -- for 60 days. "They think that they have carte blanche. Who's going to catch them? Who's going to do anything about it?" said state Sen. Steve Oelrich (R-Gainesville), a former sheriff.
For someone who doesn't want to weigh in on the Republican nomination, Jeb Bush has a lot to say about the Republican nomination.
As the high-stakes Republican primary approaches in Florida, the former governor has been under pressure to endorse a candidate. Though he has refrained from doing so, it is clear that he has opinions about the race.
Yesterday Bush wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post that gives several recommendations for how Republican candidates can win Hispanic voters.
After the fractious Republican primary in Florida last month, some conservatives in the state are thinking about turning to a third-party candidate, the Sun-Sentinel reports. "The Republicans and Democrats are the ones who got us into this mess in the first place," said Martin Nebojsic, a Republican in Fort Lauderdale who voted for Rick Santorum in the primary but would consider a third-party nominee. "I'm not voting by party. I'm trying to vote for the best leader. I hope the rest of America wakes up and does the same."
"We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives. [...] Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. [...] We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."
Jeb Bush will sure look like a savior, or maybe Chris Cristy but they will continue the clown car ride right into the convention with no clear winner and then the insiders will nominate who they want, and it isn't any of these guys.