By Pamela Gorman

I heard a person say something that made me stop in my tracks the other day, and it should cause us all to stop and consider how far we have come as a free nation.  He said, “I’m not a black helicopter nut, but I am a little afraid of my government now.”  I’ll admit.  I was eavesdropping.  I didn’t mean to, but the noise level at Starbucks suddenly dropped and his voice sort of boomed in the sudden quiet of the coffee shop where I was working on my computer while sipping my favorite latte concoction (double tall, sugar-free vanilla, extra hot, breve latte, for those keeping score).  Since I couldn’t turn and ask him to explain in the strict rules of polite society, I instead decided to opine here on why he would fear the government.

There is a strange thing that happens to people in the policy making arena when they are faced with horrid and inhuman behavior of a few… they spring to action making new laws to restrict the freedoms of the many.  It is what drives self-proclaimed conservatives to argue for things like allowing the state police to capture video and photographs of every driver they pass (and store that information along with the location and time of the recording indefinitely).  It is what causes otherwise logical thinkers to try and take guns away from law-abiding citizens in hopes that the criminals will follow suit and stop using guns for crimes, too.  And, outraged by 9/11, it was what led to the Patriot Act’s acceptance by a large majority in our U.S. Congress.

By Anupama Narayanswamy Jun 09 2010 5:46 p.m.

In the final month of fiscal year 2009, House committees and offices went on a shopping spree, spending more than $60 million left in their budgets before it disappeared. More than $12 million went towards purchasing computer hardware, which could include new laptops and desktops.

According to a Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group analysis of six months of congressional spending data released by the House Clerk’s Office, House members and various committee offices spent more than $673 million in the last half of 2009 on salaries for staff, travel and outside vendors, who help with everything from tracking constituent information to providing cell phone service and bottled water.

CDW Government Inc. is one of the leading companies that acted as middlemen for computer related services provided to the House. The company was paid close to $8 million between June and December 2009. And among the top ten companies that do business with the House, three are companies that supply technology, followed by phone companies such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 3, 2010, after a private meeting with President Barack Obama. (AP)

But voters in the Grand Canyon State have been singing a different tune since April, when Brewer signed SB1070  –  the state immigration law that has become the focus of a national controversy.

Since then, Brewer’s approval ratings have skyrocketed, catapulting her to the top of the polls in the gubernatorial race and launching what may be the biggest political comeback of the year in the U.S.

Just one month after signing the law, Brewer had taken a 13-point lead over Goddard, with 52 percent of likely voters backing her candidacy, according to Rasmussen Reports.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for Brewer, who assumed office last year when Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to become President Obama’s secretary of homeland security.  Brewer has pulled far ahead in Arizona’s Aug.  24 Republican primary race, and she has emerged virtually overnight as a national figure in the debate over border security and illegal immigration.

Read the rest.