Mr. Gonzales told organizers that he is on a special events staff, which is under the city manager’s office in Burleson. Gonzales explained to one local organizer that the special events staff had decided this protest was “not in the public interest.” He is telling organizers that David Wynn, the city manager, is his boss, and could overturn this decision. For the record, the city manager’s office told local organizers that they do not need a permit to demonstrate in Burleson, and they are not saying that the organizers need one now.

I, personally, think Mr. Gonzales (and his special events staff cohorts) would be much better suited to careers in the Scraping Shite From Between the Toes of Elephants industry.  How ’bout you Texasians get that point across to them, eh?

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the “Pay for Performance Act of 2009,” would impose government controls on the pay of all employees — not just top executives — of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

Eye-wateringly presumptuous, no?  

As I commented at VP:

So, if we – all of us who retain a functioning forebrain anyway – vow to absolutely refuse to do business with any company that has taken a cent of bailout graft (or otherwise bends a knee to the new Tsars) then presumably said companies will sink in a welter of Fail, causing the economy to correctly adjust and spontaneously right itself. Et voila.

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Anyone know of a comprehensive list of companies who have received bailout funds?  That sort of thing needs tracking.

HR 1388  GIVE Act

A bill entitled “The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws.”

OpenCongress Summary:
The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act would dramatically increase funding for AmeriCorps and other volunteer programs, including those for seniors and veterans. It also establishes a goal of expanding from 75,000 government-supported volunteers to 250,000, and would increase education funding and establish a summer service program for students, paying $500 (which would be applied to college costs) to high-school and middle-school student who participate.

In its current form, the legislation does not include a mandate requiring service.

Well, that’s not really “volunteering” if you’re paying a $500 bribe, now is it?  Still, the stated intentions are there, and we will be watching.

The Glenn Beck TV program Friday night mentioned a secret law enforcement report “The Modern Militia Movement,” which was distributed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and was obtained by Alex Jones of Prison Planet.

According to Beck, if you ever supported a third party, you might be considered a domestic terrorist. 

The original report, which has been confirmed by Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri State Highway Patrol as coming from MIAC, can be read at Prison Planet. Be sure to double click on each page thumbnail for a full enlargement. 

The Prof is more a fan of Beck than I am (I find him a tad histrionic), but he’s the only one I see bringing crap like this out from under the refrigerator where we can properly hose it down with roach spray.

UPDATE:  Missouri has retracted this report.  Which proves our Dear Leaders are only trying to get away with things to which they think we’re not paying attention.  So, we’ll pay attention to EVERYTHING, and remove these grifters, these uppity hirelings, as soon as they can be voted out of office.

Never forget that your elected officials work for YOU, not the other way around.