Little Toy Trains
But the party got involved, officials say, without consulting the political team at the White House, which is wary of getting distracted from Mr. Obama’s own budget confrontations with Republicans in Washington and upsetting his carefully nurtured position as an advocate for serious measures to address deficits. (NYT, 2/21/11)
And, of course, no where is Obama’s role as “an advocate for serious measures to address deficits” more evident than in his plan for spending billions on high speed trains that no one wants.
Freeze Frame
The state has approved hiring 181 people since declaring a hiring freeze last month, and is making modifications to give agencies more flexibility in filling vacancies. That doesn't mean the hiring freeze is over, Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding contended Friday. He said the state is still on target to save at least the $4 million goal set last month. Gov. Peter Shumlin announced a hiring freeze the day after he took office in January as a way of saving $4 million to $5 million. Spaulding said the freeze was always intended to be a "soft" freeze.
Glad to see fiscal restraint from Vermont’s ruling elite. That one month freeze/not a freeze will go a long way toward solving the state’s budget problems.
By my calculation, the 181 new hires has already cost well in excess of $5 million.
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