THE HEADLINES

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) tells local media in his home state of Arkansas that the “sacred cows” of Social Security and Medicare ought to be on the cutting room floor as emboldened Republicans seek to work with moderate Democrats in cutting the deficit that Pryor calls a “real” problem. Adopting the typical language of the “deficit hawks,” The Arkansas Democrat says that Congress needs to “take a hard look at entitlement programs” that have long been a crucial safety net for low-income and middle-class seniors. As a key moderate whose voice will be influential in the debate over trimming the deficit, Pryor’s willingness to place cuts to Social Security and Medicare on the proverbial table should give worry to defenders of these institutions as conservatives and their centrist allies, with the help of President Obama and his deficit commission, line up to take a bigger and bigger slice from what they derisively term “entitlements.”

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Reports are that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is fighting to keep tens of billions of dollars earmarked for new weapons even as the White House meekly asks for under $100 billion in cuts from the Pentagon, a relatively tiny sum compared to the trillions spent every year on the defense budget and two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With President Obama wanting to keep Gates on beyond his stated retirement date of 2011, the Defense Secretary may be using his return to the cabinet as a negotiating tool to restore billions to the proposed “cuts” that would only slow the Pentagon’s budget growth, not reverse it.

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When President Obama signed new food safety legislation into law this week, it was sold by the White House as an important step in protecting Americans from hidden dangers in our food supply…and derided by Republican “tea party” lawmakers as a “reelection too” meant to “terrify” the public over an industry that is “99.999 percent safe.” The truth, as usual, lies outside of the political rhetoric. Experts applaud the bill for its efforts to change the “culture” of food safety, but it will likely have little impact in stopping the kinds of outbreaks of food-borne illness that have made headlines across the country. Riddled with loopholes and exceptions won by lobbyists, the legislation doesn’t apply to scores of farms and producers, leaving a good chunk of the American food supply outside of the new rules.

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Every Florida governor since 1987 has made it a point to address the annual Everglades coalition conference on restoration for the Sunshine State’s “river of grass.” With the Everglades making up a large part of the state both physically, ecologically and economically, both Democrats and Republicans upheld the tradition of beginning their new terms in office by delivering a speech to the conference and affirming their support for the herculean task of Everglades restoration. But because of a “scheduling conflict,” Florida’s latest governor will not attend and will not even address the gathering from off-site. The “scheduling” excuse appears flimsy, as Rick Scott campaigned on a promise to break the deal made by his predecessor to buy and restore sensitive land in the Everglades from sugar corporations and has shows little appetite for environmental protection as a state priority.