Quick Hits: Volume CCXLVIII

 - A rather sobering tweet thread from MN Congressman Dean Phillips. 

Our ~$30 trillion debt burdens us with >$300b in annual interest payments, which consumes ~9% of revenue, and exceeds what we invest in science, space, transportation, technology, and education COMBINED. 2/4

— Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) May 8, 2021

As we emerge from the pandemic and set our sights on the future, it’s time we begin investing more in America’s people and possibility while reducing our payments for the past. Please share your ideas about how we should consider doing so. 4/4

— Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) May 8, 2021

I've been lamenting for years how America's national debt continues to skyrocket annually while the only elected officials who even pay it lip service are Republicans when they're part of the minority party in Congress. Anyone who is elected to national office, yet doesn't hammer the issue regularly is committing a dereliction of duty. Full stop.

While I appreciate Congressman Phillips for at least broaching the issue, his request for ideas will be little more than a dog's breakfast of chants to tax the wealthy even more. Sadly, most (if not all) of Phillips' likely supporters view spending cuts in social programs as tantamount to government sanctioned murder, which is why our exploding debt won't be reined in anytime soon. 

- When President Joe Biden was in close contact with former POTUS Jimmy Carter last week, he apparently caught something more damaging than COVID. 

It took Jimmy Carter three years to give us massive inflation, gas lines and America being pissed on by the whole world.

It took Joe Biden only three months.

— Rick Shaftan (@Shaftan) May 11, 2021

I guess we should be grateful that Biden is compassionate and doesn't tweet mean things. 

- I've often said that I have gotten way more out of blogging than I have ever put into it. Back when blogging really took off within the first five years of the new millennium, it kinda became its own subculture. 

Of all the unexpected blessings I've received, the solid friendships are what I cherish most. My friend and Northern Alliance Radio Network colleague Mitch Berg is someone whose blog I've been reading regularly since 2004. And long before I started hosting my own show on AM 1280 The Patriot, I was a fan of Mitch and the other NARN hosts while getting to know them at various social endeavors. A few years after that, a friend pointed me to the family blog Mr. Dilettante’s Neighborhood, which also became a regular stop for me. I also got to know Mr D. and his fine family over the past decade-plus. 

With all that said, I am thrilled that two of my closest pals in the blogosphere are teaming up to continue to churn out great content. 

From D's blog: 

The post is up now, so I can now reveal that I am writing at Shot in the Dark, Mitch Berg's longtime blog. Mitch is one of the most prolific bloggers in Minnesota and he has been at the blogging game for almost 20 years. He has also hosted a weekend radio show at AM 1280 for about 16-17 years now. He also has a pretty big audience.

This is a great opportunity for me and I'm glad Mitch asked. I will not abandon this blog -- after over 15 years of writing here, there's way too much history to let it go away. However, I assume much of what you see here will be either (a) less political and (b) more about Benster's sports views. But we'll see.

While blogging has become more passé given the influx of social media, Mitch and Mark have remained steady in the game. This union is definitely the...ahem.....shot in the arm that local conservative commentary needs. 

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