Today I want to take a moment and honor one of the world’s most preeminent advocate for free markets and personal liberty, Milton Friedman.  Friedman helped shape the fiscal policy across the world, and Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher looked to him for advice.

Milton Friedman did not invent free markets, but he proved that laissez-faire policies must be at the foundation of any free society.  Friedman was a statistician, economist, and public servant who advanced the idea of freedom based on minimizing government involvement to achieve economic, social, and political freedom. 

According to the Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Alan Greenspan, "There are very few people over the generations who have ideas that are sufficiently original to materially alter the direction of civilization. Milton is one of those very few people."

I cannot agree more.  Milton Friedman’s worked influenced many, including this Conservative.

A few months ago I predicted that the deficit would be a half trillion dollars by the end of the year.  In fact now, the Office of Management and Budget is predicting the budget deficit will be at $490 billion next year.

Well, I was off by $10 billion. But only for now. This Congress passes spending bills creating entirely new programs, spending or entitlements nearly every week. We may cross that half a trillion before the year is over. And with the socialized medicine programs that some are touting for next year, is a trillion dollar deficit coming?

Today, I was honored by the Club for Growth with the Defender of Economic Freedom Award. 49 Members of the House and 6 Senators received the award as well.

This award is granted to those members who demonstrate a strong commitment to economic freedom and free-market principals.  In order to receive this award, reciepients must have earned at least a 90% rating on the Club for Growth’s most recent scorecard. 

For your convenience I have listed the winners below.

For Tax Year 2006

Today, The Hill reported on several lawmakers happy with current prospects on earmarking….mainly because they stand to increase their share of pork at the trough if more members of congress take no earmark pledges

The average GOP member brought home $10.5 million in earmarks last year.  With roughly 36 members abstaining this year, GOP earmarkers are slated to better that mark by about $2 million each, and it shows…

Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) said in the article, “I would hope a hundred of my colleagues would not request earmarks.”   

Rep. James Walsh (R-NY) went on to confirm that members stand to receive more money for earmarks by saying, “If there are fewer requests, there should be more money to go around.”

Rep. David Hobson (R-OH) added, “It is not going be to helpful to win back the majority,” Hobson said, arguing that earmarks help members get elected to Congress. Instead, anti-earmark groups like the Club for Growth and the RSC are “eating their own.”

“It is easier to b---h than to govern. It seems the Club for Growth, and the RSC want to complain.”

It is plain as day that we still have many Republicans as well as Democrats who continue to engage in unabashed earmarking. 

On a lighter note, Mr. Hobson and Mr. Walsh have both announced retirement plans.  Let’s hope their successors recognize the need for change. 

According to a recent report from the Washington Post, medical suppliers have billed Medicare up to $92 million dollars for wheelchairs and various other pieces of home medical equipment.  Unfortunately for the American taxpayer, those claims were filed using the names and identification numbers of deceased physicians.

Senate investigators estimate that between 384,730 and 572,238 fraudulent claims have been honored by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2000. 

It's no wonder that since 1990 Medicare has been a familiar sight on the GAO's "high risk" list. 

You may remember my exchange with Rep. Charles B. Rangel last year when I questioned his earmark for $2 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center of Public Policy.

Today, the Washington Post reported on a letter writing campaign Mr. Rangel has engaged in, soliciting contributions from corporations and foundations for his Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Policy at the City College of New York.  Furthermore, these letters were sent on Congressional stationary to leaders throughout the business community, flaunting the fact that he is Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  

Rangel has been soliciting donations from a variety of business leaders many of whom have business interests in the decisions of his committee, which has broad jurisdiction over tax policy, trade, Social Security and Medicare.

Chairman Rangel has also managed to secure two Department of Housing and Urban Development grants totaling $690,500 to help renovate the college-owned Harlem building that is slated to house the center.

That’s almost $3 million of your tax dollars, so Chairman Rangel can build a Monument to Himself. 

Ridiculous.

When will the Washington insiders get it?  Today, The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper reported about an earmark from Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski (PA), which the Department of Transportation (DOT) is actively opposing.  

The earmark, from the 2005 transportation appropriation bill is for the construction of a $5.6 million parking garage next to…..the Kanjorski Center.  The reason for the obstruction?  It does not comply with federal rules, which state “only if they are connected to other public transportation facilities outside a business area with a population of 50,000 or more, or if it serves high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs) and public mass transportation passengers.”

The DOT has taken issue with more than 20 of Mr. Kanjorski’s earmarks in the past several years, and now the local communities have problems with Kanjorski’s earmarks, because they often benefit groups associated with his family members.

To top it off, the “Kanjorski Center” which was to receive the $5.6 million parking garage currently stands empty.  That’s right, no one occupies the building but Mr. Kanjorski feels it necessary to send your tax dollars to build a parking garage.

A “monument to me”, an unused building, a parking lot, family connections, and a rules violation…No it’s not a Hollywood blockbuster….it’s the United States Congress.

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), released its Monthly Budget Review, and not to my surprise it stated “The federal government incurred a deficit of $268 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2008, CBO estimates, $148 billion more than the shortfall recorded during the same period in 2007.”

CBO also estimates that about $79 billion of that change is a direct result of the Economic Stimulus Act that passed the House at the beginning of this year.

We are now seeing the direct effect from reckless spending without reductions elsewhere.  I have said it before and I will say it now, both Republicans and Democrats need to understand that if we continue on our current course we are on a collision course for the highest debt in American history.