There's nothing unusual about a 56-0 vote committee vote to approve the FY 2008 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending bill, as occurred yesterday when the House Appropriations Committee OK'ed the $109 billion measure, $4 billion above the president's request -- $2.5 billion of which goes to politically unassailable funding for veterans' health care. Only a little more unusual is holding a roll call vote where the bill has unanimous support.

In a no-need-to-read piece in today's Washington Post, someone named Robert J. Samuelson makes a hash out of a barely-discernible thesis relating in some way to rising inequality in America and why it really isn't such a bad thing:

• "It has not prevented most Americans from getting ahead."
• "On the whole, the economy that produces these growing inequalities outperforms the one that created [sic] more statistical equality."

Not sure which tense that sentence was in, but it's not as mind-numbing as this one, for those who like brain teasers:

New Hampshire government officials are worried that proposed federal budget cuts to programs for the elderly might hinder their efforts to provide low-cost meals and other programs. The Bush budget proposed to cut those types of programs under the Older Americans Act by 6 percent this year. The Seacoast Online reports: Health officials say cuts to meal services would be particularly troubling for seniors in New Hampshire. Last year, more than 1 million meals were delivered to needy seniors in their homes. About 400,000 more lunches, plus the occasional breakfast, were served at senior centers throughout the state.

The IRS has named its new "Professor in Residence," and it's none other than Professor Gregg D. Polsky - the Sheila M. McDevitt Professor of Law at Florida State University. Woohoo! For those of you not familiar with the Professor in Residence position at the IRS, here's some background info from the IRS press release: The Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel revived its Professor in Residence program earlier this year. Dormant since the late 1980s, the program provides some of the nation's top legal academicians the opportunity to contribute to the development of legal tax policy and administration. Reporting directly to the Chief Counsel, the Professor in Residence provides advice and assistance on a wide array of legal issues within the scope of his or her expertise. Am I the only one picturing a guy smoking a pipe, sitting in a huge leather chair by the fireplace in a book-lined room with mahogany accents? I wonder if the fine folks down at the IRS head over to the Professor's office after a long day, pour a couple of snifters of brandy, light up some cigars, and kick back to discuss the latest transfer pricing scandal. While it might not be all that glamorous, I think it does have to win the crown for Best Government Job Title Ever!