There is No Shortage of Critics of President Obama's Budget

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Everyone's a Critic

There is no shortage of critics of President Obama's budget, but one overseas critic is raising eyebrows just days ahead of President Obama's visit to his country. Czech Prime Minister and current European Union President Mirek Topolanek slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of the recession as, "a way to hell." He also said President Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

As we reported, Topolanek 's government collapsed Tuesday because of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

Battle Brewing

We've reported before about the grassroots protests of wasteful government spending in general — and of President Obama's stimulus package and his budget in particular — that are sweeping the nation. Here's the latest: Modern-day tea parties continue to draw crowds across the country. In Orlando, Florida this weekend, more than 4,000 showed up with signs ranging from "Don't Tax Me, Bro" to T-E-A — as in — "Taxed Enough Already." There were also tea parties this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina; Lexington, Kentucky; Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Solomon's Island, Maryland.

One group, TaxDayTeaParty.com is helping to organize events and says more than 250 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies on April 15. The events so far have been largely ignored by the mainstream media — prompting the Investor's Business Daily editorial board to write, "The real reason the major media aren't interested in these protests is that they don't agree with them."

Arctic Cat Fight

And Alaskan Republican Governor Sarah Palin is facing yet another ethics complaint. The Anchorage Daily News reports the most recent complaint, filed by a Democratic blogger, alleges Palin is using her position to promote her own financial interests by wearing Arctic Cat gear at the state's annual Iron Dog race. That company sponsors Palin's snow-machine racing husband. But Palin issued a statement in response to what she called the "latest bogus ethics complaint" saying: "Yes, I wore Arctic Cat snow gear at an outdoor event, because it was cold outside... How much will this blogger's asinine political grandstanding cost all of us in time and money?"

Palin owes more than half a million dollars to an Anchorage law firm that has defended her in a long list of these complaints. She says she might create a legal defense fund to help pay the bills.

— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.