Various Curmudgeonly Notes

• Eliminating a wide swath of bans and regulations would be helpful, at least in as much as it wouldn’t make us all criminals any longer.  Speaking of criminals, can we arrest the Senate?
• I’m sure that you’re shocked, but Obamacare is going to be more expensive than they originally estimated.  It’s not like they purposefully put in mandatory reimbursement cuts that they knew were never going to get past Congress…oh, wait…
• Every once in a while, Joe Biden accidentally says something which happens to be true.  Joe Biden is the blinking VCR light of the executive branch.
• Another “success story” in “clean energy.”  Well, it’s a success for the top-level employees, who got some nice bonuses and pay increases.
• Yet another “success story” here.  But hey, it’s just $400 million…
• Bobby Jindal is sharp.  He’s dropped off the radar over the past few years, but I could see him as a VP nominee for 2012, or a legitimate contender in 2016.
• With the stimulus, it doesn’t really matter what you spend it on.  Millions of dollars for Wall Street lawyers?  I’m sure that money multiplier jumped us right into recovery summer!
• Recovery Summer, Fannie Mae edition.  Remember, blowing trillions of dollars on entirely worthless endeavors is great because it’s stimulus.  Sort of like how if you keep shooting yourself up with amphetamines, you’ll never have to sleep again…  Speaking of uppers, stock market investors want their hit of the government juice.
• Dwight Eisenhower has had a bad reputation as a President, but it’s moving back up.  I was disappointed that he didn’t tear down the welfare state when he had a chance, instead letting it metastasize (something I think Robert Taft would have done a better job with), but he’s certainly a lot better than Kennedy or many of the Presidents after him.

The Browns are doomed. DOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEEDDDD!!!

You may have heard, at this point, that Washington got the #2 draft pick from St. Louis for their first rounder this year, the first round pick in 2013 and 2014, and a second round pick this year. They will almost certainly take Robert Griffin III. While the Browns were heavily favored to grab the pick, that’s obviously not going to happen. Still, there are other players the Browns could go after, even keeping Colt McCoy. It’s not the end of the world.

Or is it?

According to AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley, the Browns should now just curl up in a ball and die. We’ve lost out on the greatest quarterback the universe has ever seen, apparently. Despite the fact he has thrown exactly zero NFL passes, that players with great tools have failed in the past, and that the Browns still have two first round picks, there is clearly no point to playing any games this season.

Look, I get it. QBs are kind of important in a modern NFL offense. I’ll even grant you that Colt McCoy is probably not a franchise QB. Calling not drafting a gifted QB “devastating”, however, is a bit much, when the Browns can use the draft to retool the entire team. RGIII may lead Washington to multiple Super Bowls; he may also blow out his knee walking onto the stage at the NFL draft.

EDIT: Terry Pluto gets it.