Dependency on the federal government is growing at an astonishing - and unsustainable - rate.  The Heritage Foundation has published an excellent report, The 2009 Index of Dependence on Government, a must read.

One advantage of seeing disasters from the inside is that you gain insight into who really does the work.  Since the infighting at Feed the Children began, it seems that the professionals involved in the organization have been pushed aside, ignored.  I know the emergency management expert has yet to be deployed to Haiti, despite the charity's claim of being heavily involved in the recovery efforts.

The following report by CBS News is an excellent example of the need to be careful when contributing to charities; and, the need for charities to utilize experts in the field.  Another unfortunate lesson to be learned from this report is the obvious need for truth and transparency in any organization.  When a crisis hits, don't send an uninformed mouthpiece to sit in front of the camera.  That will only reinforce the interviewer's predisposition toward his or her bias in the reporting.  In addition to a failure to use the organization's professional staff, this report shows a woeful ignorance of the need for professional public relations and crisis management expertise.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

I am always amazed at the reaction of people to various crises.  In this case, a snowstorm hits the Washington DC area and area supermarkets are wiped out.  The same thing even happens in the metropolitan Denver area where snowstorms should not come as a surprise.

Considering that most grocery stores have delivery schedules that are similar to just-in-time deliveries, if you wait until a storm hits (or a crisis strikes) you're going to run into Soviet-like conditions in the markets.  Still, after Hurricane Katrina, US citizens are not taking seriously the mantra to be prepared to take of yourselves for at least 72 hours.  Why?  In this technological and advanced society, even the smallest of disasters, like a record-setting snowfall in Washington, DC, can wreak havoc.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

13 inches, 20 inches, heck who knows.  Even a prediction of snow shuts down Washington, DC, so this snowstorm and the next one to follow will keep the Nation's capitol closed.  Yes!  Senator Jim DeMint tweeted today that the snow will continue in Washington until Al Gore cries uncle.

But Al's no dummy.

According to PRNewswire, he's moved on from climate change, global warming, or whatever it's called now, to the sunshine of Phoenix and the topic of education:

But at an upcoming Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Gore will switch gears to another issue that will shape the future of our world - Education. The former Vice-President will deliver the keynote address at EduRG Conference 2010, discussing the education industry and the crucial role it will play in the coming decades. 

And just in case you're wondering, here's Phoenix weather today:

Climate change.  It happens.

I never thought David Obey and I would agree on something... but he raises a good point in his recent "Dear Colleague" letter to other members of the House of Representatives.  The GOP is being hypocritical when it opposes spending bills that include pork barrel projects they have lobbied for but then vote against when they know the Democrats' majority in Congress will pass the bill anyway.

Is it any wonder that Congressional spending is out of control?  What Congressman is willing to stop earmarks?  Obama talks about putting earmarks on the Internet for everyone to see (which is fine) but does nothing to cajole Congress into stopping the practice of earmarks or pork barrel spending.  Like a bunch of addicts holed up in some sleazy meth house, these men and women just continue spending with total disregard to the United States' tenuous fiscal condition.

Obey (D-Wisconsin) (and a very liberal Democrat at that) writes:

I feel compelled to point out the irony that some members demand that programs be fully funded and then decline to support the bill that carries out that request.

It has been my experience that a number of members who profess concern about the Great Lakes in fact voted against the bill which contained that funding when it came before the House last year. I would ask whether that is enough to give hypocrisy a bad name.

[The Wisconsin congressman on to say that Great Lakes funding is one of his] "highest priorities, "[b]ut, sometimes, there are good reasons to trim even the programs we care most about.

I would have some difficulty taking seriously members who pose for political holy pictures by sending letters asking for increased funding and then vote against that legislation that requested funding. I understand there are huge temptations in this institution to try to have it both ways. But, in a tight budget year, that is going to be very hard even for the most spectacularly inconsistent of members.

Of course, David Obey doesn't object to the spending, he just objects to the hypocrisy.  So perhaps I half-agree with Obey:  the hypocrisy needs to stop.  If Congress is ever going to get control over spending, it needs to stop spending, period. 

How about a budget freeze?  Or, a budget freeze and a 2.5% or 5% cut across all programs, all spending?  Yes, even DoD, Social Security, Medicare.  Imagine how the markets would react with just the spending freeze, let alone a budget cut.

Until then, China, Japan and the Middle East will continue to purchase our debt, creating a serious national security issue for the U.S.

The addicts need treatment.  Now.

You can read Obey's letter and the article on Huffington Post at this link.