Blogging Blue

As first reported by Keith Schmitz over at folkbum’s rambles and rants, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan has started giving out his Budget Boondoggle Award to “highlight the most egregious, wasteful, and unnecessary spending American taxpayers were forced to fund.” What’s really interesting to note about the first set of Budget Boondoggle Awards to just two budget items totaling 59 million dollars:

• 20 million dollars budgeted to pay for a commercial ferry in Alaska nicknamed “The Ferry to Nowhere,” connecting Anchorage with Port MacKenzie, which Ryan said would serve 40 people.
• 39 million dollars budgeted for the National Drug Intelligence Center, which duplicates other federal drug enforcement efforts, and which President Bush has repeatedly proposed closing.

What I can’t figure out is how Congressman Ryan could only come up with a paltry 59 million dollars worth of “egregious, wasteful, and unnecessary spending” while our government continues to throw piles of money - roughly 275 million dollars per day, to be exact - into the war in Iraq. What’s really ironic here is that Paul Ryan wants to paint himself as a fiscal conservative, when in reality he’s nothing of the sort. Time and time again he’s voted to spend billions upon billions of tax dollars in Iraq, and time and time again he’s voted in favor of legislation that contains billions of dollars in earmarks, so he’s in no position to hand out awards highlighting wasteful spending.

Perhaps when Congressman Ryan’s ready to stop voting in lockstep with the Republican Party when it comes to writing blank checks for the war in Iraq, I’ll start taking his newfound sense of fiscal responsibility seriously.

…Drinking Liberally in Milwaukee? I know we had a chapter for a while, but I haven’t heard anything about it in a good long time.

A few folks across the Wisconsin blogosphere have commented on the recent murder of Lodewikus “Vic” Milford in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, and surprisingly enough, James T. Harris - he of the “hip musings” - actually made some great points in his recent entry on Milford’s murder. However, Harris’ spot-on entry was spoiled by one James Pawlak, who responded with these comments:

Curious that the Milwaukee media has not reported on the name of the bar from which this “gentleman” went to his death OR the description of the offenders (Latinos?) OR called on the City Aldermen to shut down that Bar as they did for one where there was a justifiable killing of thugs by armed security guards.

Just in case his response in James Harris’ blog were too subtle, Mr. Pawlak made his way over to Dad29’s blog, where he came up with this doozy:

Of course the Milwaukee Urinal will not publish the name of the bar (Did it fly a rainbow banner at half-staff) or the description of the Latino killers and, if they are taken, the fact of their citizenship status.

Of course, I felt compelled to respond, simply because I fail to see what the victim’s sexual orientation has anything to do with the facts of the case. Vic Milford was shot and killed in cold blood, and his sexual orientation doesn’t - and shouldn’t - have any bearing on the case, nor is it something that’s essential to understanding the crime. It’s disappointing to see homophobia rear its ugly head in this situation, especially given the fact that the victim’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with the facts of the case.