Wall Street Journal | Jake Sherman

WASHINGTON — A House panel approved a big Pentagon spending bill this week that included nearly 150 items tucked in by lawmakers on behalf of companies and other entities whose employees donated to their campaigns.

The Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama swept into power on a promise to reform the process of lawmakers trying to dictate in detail how funds are spent, known as “earmarks.” When Mr. Obama signed a spending bill for the current fiscal year in March, he said the earmark-laden legislation should be an “end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability.”

Politico | Bobby Jindal

Things in Louisiana are looking up. We are announcing major economic development wins and private capital investment and reducing government spending in order to live within our means. We just completed a grueling legislative session where we all had to work together, Democrats and Republicans, to find a way to do more with less.

We trimmed government spending, protected vital services and refused to raise taxes. (As is the case in any legislative body, some gave it a try). I can’t say our legislative session was much fun, but it was necessary, and it is the American way. Or, at least we thought it was.

In the meantime, I’ve been catching up on the news in Washington. I wish I had not.

IBD | MICHAEL O. LEAVITT

The House bill would increase federal spending, increase taxes, increase debt, increase health costs, increase unemployment, reduce wages, reduce American competitiveness and provide nothing to anyone until 2013.

The bill reminds me of Winston Churchill’s line: “Never . . . was so much owed by so many to so few.” Under this bill, the vast majority of Americans would owe a great deal throughout the foreseeable future — paid directly to the IRS or in kind — while a comparatively small number would benefit in a meaningful way.

Many analyst are saying this is only the beginning. They expect the fiscal year deficit to reach $2 trillion. Higher interest rates and inflation are likely.

Weekly Standard | William Kristol

The air is seeping out of the Great Liberal Hot Air Balloon. American liberals have been hoping, wishing, and praying–okay, maybe not praying–for over a quarter-century for an end to the ghastly interlude of conservative dominance ushered in by Ronald Reagan. Surely it was all a bad dream, a waking nightmare, a bizarre deviation from the preordained path of history.

With the Democratic congressional victories in November 2006, the nightmare seemed to be ending. And in November 2008, with the election of Barack Obama and increased congressional majorities, it seemed to be over. A new era had dawned.

But did it? Maybe we’re now experiencing a liberal interlude, not a liberal inflection point. After all, only six months into the new administration, even a talented hot air blower like President Obama, assisted by friendly gusts of wind from the media, is having trouble keeping the liberal blimp afloat.

Bloomberg | Matthew Benjamin

Democrats who control the levers of power in Washington are divided over whether to push for more deficit spending to end the recession and stem job losses, complicating the possibility of a second stimulus bill.

Michelle Malkin | Porkulus One is a failure, so let’s do it again!

Hot Air | Like any bad gambler, they want to double down on a lost hand

Voice of America | Nothing but mixed signals

The Hill | Reid: Second stimulus can wait

Big Lizards | Liberal’s House of Waffles

Wintery Knight | The first two spending bills didn’t work, so we just need to keep trying harder to spend our way out of debt!

Politico | Ben Smith

In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest.

Obama’s job approval rating hit a — still healthy — low of 56 percent in the Gallup Poll on Wednesday. And pollsters are debating whether Obama’s expansive and expensive policy proposals or the ground-level realities of a still-faltering economy are driving the falling numbers.

New York Times | Kate Phillips

In an interview to be broadcast this Sunday on CNN, former secretary of state Colin Powell said that he had recently cautioned Obama administration officials about taking on way too many costly initiatives that were causing the nation’s debt to spiral.

Wall Street Journal | Leslie Eaton

Ten states were scrambling Monday to pass budgets before a Tuesday deadline, with a handful — including Arizona, Indiana and Mississippi — facing the possibility of partial shutdowns if their legislatures don’t act in time.

Investor’s Business Daily | Senator Judd Gregg

What would Thomas Jefferson think today, as the Obama administration puts this generation on a path to drive the debt sky-high, effectively leaving our children and grandchildren to foot the bill?

Over the past 40 years, U.S. debt has averaged 36% of our gross domestic product. Because of the current economic downturn and the fact that the government has had to serve as a lender of last resort to stabilize the financial system, we are seeing what should be only a short-term spike in our debt levels.