By ,
Published May 10, 2017
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
The Madness Continues
March Madness ended Monday with Connecticut winning the NCAA championship.
But one senator staged his own tournament.
Arizona Republican Jeff Flake created the Elite Eight of Government Waste Competition -- where voters advanced the best of the worst through the bracket.
The winner of being the biggest loser of tax-payer money was this command and control facility in Afghanistan -- a waste of $34 million.
According to an IG report, military commanders said they did not need the facility before it was even built.
It has never and will never be used by the U.S.
Some other less than honorable mentions are -- $5 million on state department glass stemware; $1.5 million on undistributed EPA materials; and over $1 million spent on alcoholic beverages by the federal government.
Flake summed it up -- quote -- "Contrary to claims of bone-deep spending cuts, there is clearly plenty of fat left to be trimmed from the federal budget"
Not in My Backyard
The United Nations sends election monitors all over the world, but soon they may not be welcome in Tennessee.
Both state legislatures have passed a bill that reads -- quote -- "Any representative of the United Nations appearing without a treaty ratified by the United States Senate stating that the United Nations can monitor elections in this state, shall not monitor elections in this state."
The UN actually sent monitors to Tennessee in 2012 because of its voter ID law.
A spokesman for the governor says he will review the bill before taking any action.
Sign Here
Finally, Rolling Stone magazine may need to brush up on American history.
Next month's cover has a risque picture of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus with a tattoo of the U.S. Constitution signed by John Hancock across her back.
The problem?
Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.
The magazine said the Declaration is on the other side of the actress' body but the signatures just didn't fit.
The actress took to Twitter and blamed the flub on her fictional communications director from the HBO series "Veep" -- calling him a dummy.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/grapevine-rolling-stones-history-flub