Grapevine: Frivolous spending at the Pentagon?

Sen. Coburn releases report on wasteful expenses

And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...

It Takes Two

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was asked Thursday if two separate deals would be required to handle the expiring Bush tax cuts and raise the debt ceiling.

Here's her response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D – CA, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I'm with the 11th Amendment, so. Is it the 11th Amendment that -- 14th, is it? Whatever it is, I'm with the Constitution of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

It would seem, Pelosi meant to cite the 14th Amendment which could potentially allow the president to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally.

Money Matters

As part of the fiscal cliff, there would be massive budget cuts of both domestic and defense programs.
And maybe there's room for some cuts.

We told you Thursday, Senator Tom Coburn released an oversight report outlining what he believes is frivolous Pentagon spending.

Entitled "Department of Everything" Coburn's report found --

A Pentagon grant for development of a smartphone app that tracks when it's time for a coffee break.

A planning workshop held last year -- price tag $100,000 -- that included a session called "Did Jesus die for Klingons, too?"

And $1.5 million to develop a new kind of beef jerky.

Coburn says -- quote -- "Using defense dollars...to create beef jerky or examine Star Trek does nothing to defend our nation."

Benjamins Rule the Day

We told you Montana State Representative Jerry O'Neil wants to be paid in gold and silver coins according to a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

Well, that request has now officially been denied. A state legislative attorney said O'Neil could introduce a bill allowing him to be paid in gold or silver.

But the Republican lawmaker does not intend to go that route.