The only time I ever really give Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., any attention at all is in highlighting just how insanely idiotic he is.  But today, it appears the jokes on all of us.

As American taxpayers we have contributed $73,000 for Grayson to send his constituents pre-recorded DVDs with the congressman's "greatest hits." 

The Orlando-Sentinel explains:

The 90-minute disc features video highlights from his first term in office, including one of him grilling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and another in which the Orlando Democrat preaches on the need to teach schoolchildren about the U.S. Constitution.

The DVD comes wrapped inside a mailer covered with promotional slogans: “Congressman Alan Grayson, Hard at Work for You,” “He works hard. He pays attention. He gets things done,” and “Video DVD Inside: Watch Congressman Grayson in Action!”

In many ways, it’s the perfect campaign video — with one key difference.

Thanks to perks given to all members of Congress, it’s not Grayson’s campaign but taxpayers who footed the nearly $73,000 bill to produce and mail the DVD to 100,000 homes in Grayson’s district of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.

To Florida's Eighth Congressional District: Can you really think of no better use of taxpayer dollars?  Because apparently your representative can't.

Do the rest of us a favor and dump this buffoon in November.

From the WONK'd department of the August issue of Townhall Magazine.

San Jose State University's ban on blood drives reveals its true -- and dangerous -- agenda.

Recently, San Jose State University President Jon Whitmore decided to continue a two-year-old policy banning all blood drives on campus.

The reason? The Food and Drug Administration prohibits men who have had sex with other men from donating blood, a policy that a government health committee upheld June 11.

But despite the fact that the only motive of the policy is to protect people’s health, SJSU contends that the FDA’s ban violates the university’s policy against “sexual orientation” discrimination. The implications of this decision are sobering.

Read the whole report in the August issue of Townhall magazine.

Guest blog post by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (Tex.)

If there is one thing Democrats in Congress have proven themselves good at, its creating more uncertainty for working families and the economy. Unless Congress acts, in 155 days Americans will face the largest tax hike in history to the tune of $3.8 trillion.

What does this mean for taxpayers? Income tax rates will increase across the board, 35 million married couples would be hit by a $595 marriage penalty, and taxes would be higher on dividends and capital gains, discouraging investment. Thirty-one million families with children would pay $1,033 more due to a lower child tax credit, and the death tax would return to a maximum rate of 55 percent.

With 9.5 percent of the population unemployed, these higher taxes would come at a time when taxpayers can least afford it. The threat of the largest tax hike in history is creating widespread uncertainty for small businesses that could otherwise be creating jobs and expanding. After all, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 94 percent of small businesses will face higher taxes under the Democrats plan. If their taxes are going to be higher, business owners are going to hold off on hiring and expansions. The unknowns for small businesses are simply taxing the certainty out of our economy.

House Republicans have offered good, common-sense solutions, but the Majority just isnt listening. Earlier this year, I introduced the Taxpayer Certainty Act, which would prevent these pending tax hikes. As a former small business owner, I know these businesses will be the economic engine driving our economic recovery. Likewise, families who can keep more of their own money, rather than sending it to the government, will grow the economy.

Washington has created this economic uncertainty; its high time for us to end it. The federal government has a spending problem, not an income problem. Its time to give the taxpayers the certainty they deserve.

Congressman Neugebauer represents Texas' 19th congressional district.

Our friend Tim Carney today points out some interesting characters playing a role in the ongoing ethics case against Ways & Means chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. 

Not surprisingly, the powerful committee chair has some of the usual suspects working to protect him and, consequently, their own interests: K Street lobbyists and unions.

Two of the three firms providing legal counsel to Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., in his pending ethics cases are lobbying firms. In fact, one firm, Oldaker, Belair & Wittie, conducts much of Rangel's political fundraising, while operating four different lobby shops.

But who's ultimately paying Rangel's legal bills? Mostly corporate and union political action committees along with individual lobbyists. Over the past six months, PACs and lobbyists have accounted for a majority of the money Rangel's campaign has raised this year, not counting transfers from Rangel's other fundraising operations. ...

PACs and lobbying firms have given more than $120,000 to Rangel in the past six months while individual lobbyists have chipped in another $28,000.

All of these companies and lobbyists are savvy enough to know they're funding Rangel's legal defense. This is why politicians like Rangel benefit when K Street gains clout. Starting this week, we'll find out if K Street is powerful enough to save Rangel.

Read Carney's full report over at the Washington Examiner

The next stop on the Obama reform express? Education.

President Barack Obama praised his education secretary Arne Duncan during his speech at the National Urban League today. To find out what "reform" really means, with Obama and Duncan leading the way, check out the September issue of Townhall Magazine.

With unemployment at nearly 10 percent, November elections looming, oil in the gulf, threats from North Korea and Iran, Wikileaks and snubbing boy scouts, President Obama will be appearing on The View as part of the show's "Red, White and View" event.  

And so it begins...

Politico reports that the House Republicans' campaign machine is offering access to "Speaker John Boehner"--for the right price, of course.

Months before any midterm votes are cast, John Boehner of Ohio is putting his own face on the GOP’s drive to take back the House by quietly launching a “Boehner for Speaker” committee that aims to boost the party’s lagging fundraising, in part by introducing him as a “regular guy” from Ohio.

But while the effort plays up Boehner’s modest roots, the going rate to participate is pricey: According to materials distributed by Boehner’s camp and obtained by POLITICO, lobbyists and other major donors across the country who give the maximum or help raise $100,000 will get meetings with Boehner, calls from senior aides with updates on the campaign and “VIP access to all events, including roundtables, briefings, breakout discussions and interactive panel discussions.”

Politico has dubbed this the "cash-for-speaker" campaign. 

Personally, I think I'd rather see this guy as Speaker.  More importantly, I'd really prefer if the GOP weren't so presumptuous.  Let's face it--the GOP is experiencing a resurgence NOT really because of anything they've done, but because the country is sick and tired of the Democrats' power grabs. 

Here's hoping that a Republican majority in the 112th Congress will be much more proactive in pursuing a conservative agenda.

Today I have an op/ed running in Investors Business Daily, arguing that the GOP needs to make it clear that Tom Tancredo's talk about trying to impeach the President -- and charging him with being more dangerous than Al Qaeda -- is over the line.

Not only does it allow Democrats to divert attention from their record of failure, arrogance and incompetence, it also misleads Tancredo's supporters, who might think -- contrary to fact -- that impeachment is either legally possible or politically tenable.

Worst of all, Tancredo's rhetoric is ill-suited to reassuring Americans who -- having been ignored and disdained by Democrats -- want their representatives to focus on jobs, a growing economy, and strength  abroad.  His intemperate words raise concerns that, if given power, the GOP would simply use it to pursue partisan power games, rather than work on behalf of the American people.  What he's doing is silly, irresponsible and counterproductive; it ought to stop.