28 | January | 2012 | Robot Pirate Ninja

December 19, 2011 12:44 PM

As with most things in Washington, this year’s appropriations process was slow and frustrating, but the end result is a major victory for fiscal sanity.

On December 16, Congress finalized a fiscal 2012 government appropriations bill that cuts spending for the second consecutive year — the first time since World War II that government spending has been reduced in back-to-back years. These are real spending cuts that reduce spending by $95 billion compared to fiscal year 2010 and brings non-defense discretionary spending down to 2008 levels.

via Government Spending Down for Second Year in a Row – Rep. Cole.

I think it’s a complete conspiracy that this press release from the fourth ranking Republican member of the House, Tom Cole R-OK, was completely ignored by the liberal mainstream MSM media, of which radio and cable TV, except for 3rd and 4th ranked channels, are not a part.

Note: Conservative media has ignored reporting this as well. But what’cha’gonna’go?

But Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who was standing just feet away from the president and the governor on Wednesday during their now-infamous encounter, told TPM that Obama seemed calm the whole time.

“He wasn’t tense at all,” Stanton said on Friday. “The guy’s a pro.”

Though Stanton declined to discuss exactly what the governor and president said to each other, he said Obama’s classic coolness was evident.

“He doesn’t get animated, but he looks you in the eye and tells you what he thinks,” Stanton said. “And I think that’s honestly what he did is he looked the governor in the eye and spoke and told her what he was really feeling.”

Stanton, a Democrat, is now the second elected Arizona official whose account of the incident contradicts the way Brewer has described it.

via 2nd Mayor Says Obama ‘Wasn’t Tense At All’ During Brewer Encounter | TPMMuckraker.

This is a silly little story, but it’s got a nice dramatic picture to it, so there’s some open spin territory for certain folks. Always nice to have a witness to the actual event, however.