Stache Act (Stimulus to Allow for Critical Hair Expenses) proposed on Capitol Hill

Daniel Halper reporting at the Weekly Standard:

The American Mustache institute earlier today made this surprising announcement:


After barnstorming the Nation’s Capitol in support of the proposed Stache Act (details and white paper here), the office of of [sic] Maryland 6th district U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett informed the American Mustache Institute that the congressman has begun the process of ensuring the‘Stache Act becomes law by passing the proposal to the House Ways and Means Committee for study — an essential first step for tax legislation.

The surprising thing is not that a congressman—Rep. Bartlett, a Republican—would support the creation of another tax loophole. “The Stache Act (Stimulus to Allow for Critical Hair Expenses) aims to earn a well-deserved $250 annual tax deduction for every Mustached American for expenditures on mustache grooming supplies,” the website reads.

Instead, it was odd that Bartlett would even participate in what clearly seems to be an elaborate parody of Washington, D.C., think tanks and advocacy groups—and Congress. (The group is, after all, holding a rally on Capitol Hill on April 1.)

So I called Bartlett’s office to see if something so silly could possibly be real. Sure enough, it is—but there’s a wrinkle: Congressman Bartlett was never aware that the bill had been referred to the committee in his name.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/staffer-refers-mustache-bill-committee-without-congressmans-consent_632956.html

$9 per month for birth control pills--less than two beers at a Georgetown bar

Nancy Pelosi held a congressional hearing on Monday with a single witness, Georgetown student Sandra Fluke, to testify about the need for Obamacare to mandate that religious institutions provide free contraception and abortifacients under their health insurance plans.

“Forty percent of the female students at Georgetown Law reported to us that they struggled financially as a result of this policy,” Fluke testified regarding the Catholic university's policy of not covering birth control. “Without insurance coverage, contraception, as you know, can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school.”

But Fluke's testimony was very misleading. Birth control pills can be purchased for as low as $9 per month at a pharmacy near Georgetown's campus. According to an employee at the pharmacy in Washington, D.C.'s Target store, the pharmacy sells birth control pills--the generic versions of Ortho Tri-Cyclen and Ortho-Cyclen--for $9 per month. "That's the price without insurance," the Target employee said. Nine dollars is less than the price of two beers at a Georgetown bar.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/dc-target-sells-birth-control-9-month-georgetown-student-tells-congress-friends-are-going-broke-pay-pills_632955.html?nopager=1

Legs ...From Paris

We can't help it.  We like legs.  Silly movies and serious ones.  We like legs.  Crazy actresses and serious ones.  We like legs.

GOP Sen. Snowe will not seek reelection

Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe will not seek reelection in 2012, she announced Tuesday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/maine-sen-olympia-snowe-to-retire-in-blow-to-gop/2012/02/28/gIQAkzWkgR_blog.html

Dems voting for Santorum in Michigan primary; will vote for President 'Bailout' in November

If Mitt Romney loses Michigan tonight, it could be because of people like Dennis Budziszewski, 63, of Canton.

A diehard Democrat and retired autoworker, Budziszewski REALLY doesn’t like Romney, and instead cast a ballot for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Come November, he will vote for President Barack Obama.

But today, he just wants to embarrass Romney.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120228/NEWS15/120228049/Many-Democrats-voting-Santorum-Paul-deny-Romney-Michigan-win&odyssey=modbreakingtextFRONTPAGE

A 'Leg' Up ...From Paris

So the question is, was Angelina 'pranking' or was she being her usual weird tattoo sporting, blood drinking, crazy self?

"Ewww"...From Paris

Angelina Jolie has managed to grab the spotlight.  Again.  This time for her crazy "leg".  Last time Angie grabbed attention at the Oscars, she had just kissed her brother on the lips and exclaimed "I love my brother SO much."

Ewwwwwww.  

Welfare debit cards used at casinos and strip clubs

Debit cards issued to provide assistance to welfare recipients were used to withdraw cash at ATMs in strip clubs, casinos, bingo halls and amusement parks, a 9News investigation found.

As a result, more than $1 million in welfare funds goes to ATM owners and banks through transaction fees every year.

"When you see the type of obvious abuses that you've shown, it says there are people on welfare that should not be," said Jon Caldara of the conservative watchdog group Independence Institute.



http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_20058326?source=commented-news

$750,000 soccer field for Guantanamo Bay detainees

At a time of record deficits, a new soccer field for detainees at Camp 6 in Guantanamo Bay is just getting the finishing touches -- at a cost of $750,000 to taxpayers.

The project was the highlight of a tour Tuesday of the detention camp for reporters at the facility covering the arraignment in a military court of Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident and the the only legal U.S. resident on trial at Guantanamo.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/28/guantanamo-detainees-get-new-750g-soccer-field/

Handout Nation: the government provides $1 in benefits for every $4 in other income

...many other residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess are drawing more deeply on that government with each passing year.

Dozens of benefits programs provided an average of $6,583 for each man, woman and child in the county in 2009, a 69 percent increase from 2000 after adjusting for inflation. In Chisago (county), and across the nation, the government now provides almost $1 in benefits for every $4 in other income.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html?_r=1

Two ethicists argue for 'after-birth abortion'

Liz Klimas writing at The Blaze:

Alberto Giubilini with Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne write that in “circumstances occur[ing] after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.”

The two are quick to note that they prefer the term “after-birth abortion“ as opposed to ”infanticide.” Why? Because it “[emphasizes] that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus (on which ‘abortions’ in the traditional sense are performed) rather than to that of a child.” The authors also do not agree with the term euthanasia for this practice as the best interest of the person who would be killed is not necessarily the primary reason his or her life is being terminated. In other words, it may be in the parents’ best interest to terminate the life, not the newborns.

The circumstances, the authors state, where after-birth abortion should be considered acceptable include instances where the newborn would be putting the well-being of the family at risk, even if it had the potential for an “acceptable” life. The authors cite Downs Syndrome as an example, stating that while the quality of life of individuals with Downs is often reported as happy, “such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ethicists-argue-in-favor-of-after-birth-abortions-as-newborns-are-not-persons/
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First it was sanctioned and encouraged fetus destruction; now we have two ethicists calling for sanctioned infanticide if the baby is considered 'inconvenient'. I've always called abortion a slippery slope that could lead to an ever-expanding universe of capriciously defined 'inconvenient' life.

Kenseth wins wild Daytona 500

Kenseth is the ninth driver to win multiple Daytona 500s. His first Daytona 500 win came in the rain-shortened 2009 event. He also won the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona last Thursday. The last driver to win both a Duel and the Daytona 500 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004.

Kenseth's victory was worth $1,589,397. The victory was also team owner Jack Roush's second Daytona 500. His first came with Kenseth in 2009.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/racing/02/28/daytona-500/index.html?xid=cnnbin

Dems digging for some dirt on Rubio

Alexander Bolton writing at The Hill:

Democrats have started to wage a political assault against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and the intensity of their attacks will intensify in the coming weeks.

Senior officials in the Democratic Party anticipate that Mitt Romney will win the Republican presidential nomination and then tap Rubio to be his running mate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), who has not been shy in lambasting GOP White House hopefuls in prior election years, has questioned whether Rubio really stands with the Hispanic voters with whom he is so popular on the issues most important to them.

Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) tried to drive a wedge between Rubio, who is Cuban-American, and Hispanic voters.

Democratic operatives have turned their attention in recent months to Rubio’s personal finances and his family background, going on digging missions that are usually reserved for presidential candidates.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/212919-dems-target-likely-veep-pick-rubio

Another cruise ship in trouble

A French fishing vessel on Tuesday began towing an Italian cruise ship drifting powerless in the Indian Ocean to a nearby Seychelles island, but was not expected to reach the tiny resort island until Thursday, according to company officials.

A spokesman for Costa Crociere, the cruise company, told NBC News' Claudio Lavanga that the stricken liner carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew members would arrive at the Seychelles' main island Mahe on Thursday.

The Costa Allegra lost power Monday after a fire in its generator room only six weeks after one of its sister ships, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy. No one was injured in the fire Monday, but the blaze set the cruise-liner adrift at sea in a region where Somali pirates prey on ships.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/28/10528583-stricken-costa-allegra-being-towed-to-safety-through-pirate-zone

Danica Patrick goes 0-for-Daytona

Three races, three wrecks. Even if it wasn't really her fault, Danica Patrick went 0-for-Daytona.

Patrick got caught in a crash on just the second lap of her Daytona 500 debut Monday, a continuation of a week's worth of troubles at Daytona International Speedway. After her crew made extensive repairs to her car, she got back in the race and finished 38th.

After noting that she was disappointed for any new fans who might have tuned in to watch her race, Patrick acknowledged that she also was disappointed for herself.

"I would have loved to have run up there. I would have loved to have got the experience when you actually were racing for positions as opposed to just feeling it out," Patrick said. "But I truly believe everything happens for a reason."

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46549489/ns/sports-motor_sports/