It looks as though Hillary Clinton will be the new Secretary of State.

HT: Tim Wise

Hilarious hat tip: RedState.

Hilarious hat tip: Radley Balko.

Just a reminder that NTU and some members of staff are on Twitter; follow us for updates ranging from what Josh had for breakfast to which states are begging for federal bailout money.

NTU: http://www.twitter.com/ntu

Kristina Rasmussen: http://www.twitter.com/kmrasmussen

Andrew Moylan: http://www.twitter.com/amoylan

Natasha Altamirano: http://www.twitter.com/naltamirano

Josh Culling: http://www.twitter.com/joshuaculling

We've also set up a #statebooks hashtag to keep track of state governments' responses to the economic slowdown. You can track that conversation here.

Another in an ongoing series intended to highlight the actions of legislators/governmental officials/bureaucrats/do-gooders who want to expand the nanny state in an attempt to improve your life.

Australians may be facing a toilet tax, according to the Register.com:

Australians could face 'pay as you dump' charges as part of a Toilet Tax. It's all in the name of "sustainability" -- and part of a growing eco-movement to replace flushing conveniences with smelly and unhealthy inconvenience.

Water use experts Mike Young and Jim McColl, of Adelaide University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, respectively, presented new proposals to South Australia state parliament last week. The two renewed their call to create a market in sewerage, with the pricing element controlling scarcity.

Controlling the scarcity? It's my understanding that everyone does it, so I'm not certain how scare it will be.

I'm sure there are a lot down under jokes that could be inserted here, but there they go again....

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If you would like to submit an elected official, or other do-gooder, for consideration in "There They Go Again," please email dircksen @ ntu.org.

In place of the usual list of previous posts, here's a link to our del.icio.us RSS feed for this topic.

Following up on yesterday's post urging bankruptcy as the only way to save American cars, here's Mitt Romney on Morning Joe arguing for Chapter 11 not bailouts:



And for the wonky types out there, The Volokh Conspiracy has a fabulous post by bankruptcy professor Todd Zywicki explaining why the Big Three are excellent candidates for Chapter 11:

What GM needs to do is shed labor contracts, retirement contracts, and modernize its distribution systems by closing many dealerships. It appears to need new management as well. Bankruptcy gives them the opportunity to do all that.

So GM will almost certainly reorganize, as will the other car companies. GM does not look like an economically-failed typewriter manufacturer at this point, but rather a financially-failed company that needs to reorganize and go forward.

...Which brings us to the final benefit of a reorganization over a bailout--reorganization forces a market test on the enterprise to determine what is economically valuable and what is not. A bailout will inherently be a political process. Political processes are not in any way designed to determine which assets are allocated in an economically-efficient manner.

Be sure to check out the full post.

LegiStorm has teamed up with Taxpayers for Common Sense to launch a database of 2008 earmarks. Here is the press release, and here is the bilious pork.

Hey, remember last year when we blogged about the prospect of Jeff Flake on the Appropriations Committee, only to have Republican Leadership ignore us and get slaughtered in this year's election? Good times!

Well, we're getting the band back together! Flake is again putting his hat in the ring for membership on the Appropriations Committee. Maybe, just maybe, this time Republican Leadership will get the memo that business as usual isn't exactly working out for them. Having a Member on the Appropriations Committee that does not seek earmarks would be one hell of a step forward.

To quote the Facebook group started by our friends at Americans for Prosperity, "Put Jeff Flake on the Approps Cmte. & He'll Kill More Pork Than Jimmy Dean!"

For the uninitiated, Jeff Flake is THE best member of Congress on fiscal issues, period. In his years in Congress, his LOWEST ranking ever on our Rating of Congress was 2nd! He's been our top scorer for the last five years in a row, setting a recent high-water mark of 96%.

He would be an absolute dynamo on the Appropriations Committee. Which is exactly why the powers that be won't give him the slot without a fight. So, let's give them a fight!

Call Minority Leader John Boehner's office at 202-225-4000, or email him at john.boehner@mail.house.gov, and tell them you want Flake!

Local officials were afraid this would happen. The final tally is in and the liberal bastion of Montgomery County, Maryland approved a measure to make it more difficult for the County Council to exceed limits on property tax revenue.

Activist Robin Ficker, the sponsor of the ballot measure, has been fighting the County on tax issues for 34 years and this vote is his first victory. How's that for hope and change. Kudos!

I broke my BlackBerry this morning, so I was already in a questionable mood when I got to the office. NY Gov. David Paterson has exacerbated my condition, upon this report that he is the proud new owner of a $21,000 Turkish rug, purchased at taxpayer expense.

While stressing that she was not familiar with the mansion's rug, Lucille Laufer of the Oriental Rug Importers Association, a New Jersey-based trade group, said that Turkish rugs have been in vogue lately.

"It's a warm look, and people are really migrating toward that now," she said.

Hahaha. Someone please let the New York Congressional delegation, as well as Sen. Reid and Rep. Hoyer know where the bailout dollars proposed by Paterson will be headed.

For more information on how state governments are dealing with the economic slowdown's effects on their budgets, follow the Twitter conversation at http://twemes.com/statebooks.

"And at a time when so many have lost their faith in government and when the cost and spending of government is skyrocketing, sunshine is more important than ever."

Three cheers for a government official so bold about promoting transparency!

The BBC is reporting that the Italian government has agreed to sell Italy's bankrupt airline to a private business group. According to the report, "The airline filed for bankruptcy in August, weighed down by high labour costs, strikes, surging oil prices and political interference." Does that sound a bit like anyone that you know -- Detroit perhaps? Perhaps bankruptcy can help Detroit turn things around as well.

Rep. Tom Price (GA) has been nominated to chair the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives, in the 111th Congress.

His NTU Rates Congress 2007 rating = A.

I did a podcast with the Tax Foundation this afternoon about ballot initiative results. You can find it here.