Democrat blogger Mickey Kaus takes issue with President Obama's statement on Monday that discretionary spending has been cut as far as is possible. "Not much further we can cut" seems like a hanging curve ball, an open invitation for ongoing ridicule -- the sort of naive assertion that might come easily to someone who had never worked in the federal government, who only realized after promoting his half-trillion-dollar public works-based stimulus plan that there was "no such thing as shovel-ready projects." Or someone who doesn't want to know. Or who wants to act as if he doesn't know. Here is the official list of federal job openings. They are still hiring. Sure, big enterprises keep hiring essential employees even in tough times. But these aren't essential jobs. Many of them seem like the sort of job a private firm, in a financial crisis like the feds are in, would consolidate with another job or leave unfilled. (The first one that jumps out...(Read Full Post)