Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Paying the Enemy?
Your tax dollars are going to some of the people who are killing American military personnel in Afghanistan.
A new report by the inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction says since 2008, the U.S. government has awarded $150 million in reconstruction contracts to known supporters of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The IG says -– quote -- "I am deeply troubled that the U.S. military can pursue, attack, and even kill terrorists and their supporters, but that some in the U.S. government believe we cannot prevent these same people from receiving a government contract."
The Army says it reviewed the Inspector General's previous recommendations but did not have enough evidence to terminate the contracts.
There is now a bipartisan bill before Congress to prevent such contracts from being awarded.
Seeing Green
A half-billion dollars of your money has gone to train people for jobs that do not exist.
In 2009, the stimulus provided $501 million for green jobs training.
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that only 55 percent of the people in the program got new jobs, and many of those jobs were not really green.
The problem, it seems, is that the green industry is not as big or growing as fast as some might hope.
If this sounds familiar, it should.
In 2011, we did an hour-long special "Help Wanted - Green Jobs." I interviewed a man who admitted to accepting a contract for green jobs training for jobs he knew did not exist.
The Humor Race
And finally, what a difference a year makes.
Comedians are now leaning to the left to find the butt of their jokes.
A study by George Mason University's Center for Media and Public Affairs looked at monologues by late night hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Craig Ferguson.
In the first half of 2013, President Obama was the subject of 288 jokes by far the most of any person.
Democrats provided fodder for 713 jokes compared to 417 GOP punch lines.
That's a stark contrast to 2012, when Mitt Romney was the subject of more than twice as many jokes as the incumbent.
President Obama, by the way, will be a guest on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" tomorrow night.
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