Think Progress Highlights Tennessee GOPocrisy

George Flinn, a Republican running to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. John Tanner, has taken a liking to his national party's passion for hypocrisy.

Think Progress reports that Flinn attacks the Recovery Act, better known as the stimulus, on his campaign Web site.

Funny considering Flinn, who also does business consulting at YourAmericanDream.com, suggests entrepreneurs should get busy applying for — you guessed it — stimulus money!

Think Progress also points to the fact that Flinn, in his capacity as a Shelby County Commissioner, voted to accept $1.6 million in federal dollars tied directly to the stimulus.

Cell Phone & Popcorn. Yikes.

This is definitely not a video posted by AT&T or Verizon.


Cell Phones Pop Corn

A long while back when I was in high school and saw the impending cell phone invasion, I resisted.

I had several reasons: the seemingly most outlandish being my fear of contracting a brain tumor from cell phone radiation.

Cell phone industry players have come out hard suggesting this is a myth, and honestly, I don't know where the science stands on this.

But I watch this video and I worry. Not for the corn which will burst into light, white fluffiness, but for my already fluffy brain. I would really prefer it didn't burst.

And from a business perspective, this is not the kind of video you want to see "go viral" if you sit in a corner office in a building that says SPRINT across the side.

If this video continues to spread, I wonder if we'll see a response. May I suggest a collaboration between T-Mobil and Orville Redenbacher? Sounds like it has the pop to be the next big viral video.

Car Shopping

I'm car shopping today. And I came across an exceptional vehicle. $159,000...wait for it...Kia Sedona!

Seems like a good deal to me so long as the seats are lined with baby seal fur and the dials are pure gold with diamond encrusted flourishes.

[caption id="attachment_147" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Mona Lisa of Kias?"][/caption]

The GOP's Bacon Addiction

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="As seen in Washington, D.C., the Bacon Briefcase! Perfect for bringing the pork home to your congressional district."][/caption]

The Knoxville News Sentinel published the kind of story today that grates on my nerves to no end.

In a nut shell, the "fiscal conservatives" of my home state Tennessee are lining up to spend federal dollars. From the article:

"Our nation is sinking under a mountain of debt," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Chattanooga, who got nearly $4 million for various projects in his district. "While a very small percentage of the bill funded some worthwhile projects in Tennessee, the overall cost is way too high.

So there we have it. If I'm ever swimming, I hope Zack Wamp is not the lifeguard on duty. He says Uncle Sam is drowning, so the only appropriate thing to do? Hold his head under water.

What yanks my chain the most is the hypocrisy. Republicans conveniently forget their own rhetoric when it's time for funding requests. Yet that's all we hear from these clowns. "Spending is out of control, blah, blah, snore."

Spending is a big problem for the GOP. They love to hate it but can't help themselves, like teenagers with mommy and daddy's credit card.

These sorts of things live on though, and it's not to say it doesn't create an image problem. Spending habits will likely be talking points fodder for upcoming elections, especially when a "fiscal conservative" name is tied to the porky, bacony, greasy projects.

I hope they like this year's bacon because I suspect it will be the last year for pork under this president. Despite this year's omnibus bill, Obama has pledged to cut the fat in the future. So we might not see this much spending again until our next Republican administration.