S. 837 is a new bill introduced in the Senate to require that North Korea be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, among other things.

But wait a sec. North Korea is and does a lot of bad things, but is sponsoring terrorism among them?

Well, kinda, yes. My handy Web research reveals a Salon article from May 2003 discussing North Korea’s involvement in some terrorist acts and dealings with other states that sponsor terrorism.

North Korea was added to the list in January 1988, following the bombing of a Korean Airlines plane by North Korean agents in November 1987 which killed all 115 on board. The State Department said late last year that North Korea was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since that bombing and the country was taken off the list in October.

Now, with North Korea testing missiles and ramping up its nuclear program again, maybe it’s a terrorist again. Though I daresay that these two things are really more about conventional warmaking than terrorism. Maybe there should be a “state sponsors of war” list!

But that list would be mighty long and we might find ourselves sanctioning some countries that we like a real heckuva lot.

So there you have it. North Korean terrorism. Of a sort.

Here’s the current vote on S. 837, to require that North Korea be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

Among the more bizarre comments we’ve seen in a while are the first few on H.R. 1467, The Safe and Secure America Act of 2009. The bill would extend provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 for 10 years. Serious stuff.

But that doesn’t mean that serious comments are always required. And these are definitely not serious. (Warning if you go to look at them: They use some offensive terms and names.)

The highlight?

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thats my dinosaur face!

That’s right: a little dinosaur emoticon, and “that’s my dinosaur face!”

Who knows what people are thinking sometimes. Perhaps it’s brilliant theater of the absurd. Or perhaps these are extremely subtle substantive comments that I just haven’t been able to interpret.

Here’s the current vote on H.R. 1467, The Safe and Secure America Act of 2009. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

H.R. 140 would withhold highway funds from states that don’t comply with the REAL ID Act, a national ID law passed in 2005. REAL ID would require states to issue driver’s licenses and IDs to federal standards and comply with federal mandates about sharing their drivers’ data.

Over successive years, non-compliant states would receive less and less federal money until, perhaps, they would go bust. That’s why the title of this post is so clever.

Here’s the current vote on H.R. 140. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

The House today passed H.R. 549, The National Bombing Prevention Act, which would establish the Office for Bombing Prevention in the Department of Homeland Security.

You mean – they didn’t already have one? I hope that there are sub-bureaus for suicide-bombing prevention, truck-bombing prevention, car-bombing prevention, shoe-bombing prevention, etc.

Actually, that wry comment raises an important security point: If you find yourself chasing tactics, you’re doing it wrong. While you’re fighting the battle you’re prepared for (and looking for your keys under the lamp post because the light is better there), your adversary is outflanking you with a new attack.

But anyway, one Office of Bombing Prevention, coming to a Department of Homeland Security near you.

Here’s the current vote on H.R. 549, The National Bombing Prevention Act. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

H.R. 645, The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act

When Congress passed Public Law 109-148, it sent about $11.5 billion to Gulf Coast states for Hurricane Katrina repairs. When it passed Public Law 109-234, it sent another $5.2 billion. (These numbers are from the lawsuit discussed below.) That’s a total of about $170 per U.S. family or $55 per person.

Total Hurricane Katrina spending was much more. We kept some track of all the money here, issuing this press release in October, 2005 noting that Katrina spending was at $800 per family and rising.

Housing advocates are now suing to stop Mississippi from spending a half-billion of those federal dollars on rebuilding the State Port at Gulfport. ($5 per family / $1.50 per person)

So, the question is up to you? How do you want your Katrina dollars spent? Do you think they should go to housing? Should they go to rebuilding the port? Perhaps you want your money back, knowing that you could be spending it on propping up the financial services industry or automakers . . . .

I collected the image for this post from the Port of Gulfport’s Web site. Had to laugh at the “We Can Handle It” message. Evidently not! – if you’re dipping into my pocket for your rebuilding.

(In fairness, as soon as I need some bulk, breakbulk, or containerized shipping done, I know where to go. I wonder if I get a discount for contributing to their cause?)

New bills introduced in the Senate yesterday! (Bringing the tally even higher.)

S. 3718
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to suspend the taxation of unemployment compensation for 2 years

S. 3719
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to suspend the minimum required pension distribution rules for 2008, 2009, and 2010

S. 3720
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to suspend the minimum required pension distribution rules for 2008 and 2009

S. 3721
A bill to prohibit the use of funds to transfer individuals detained by the United States at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

S. 3722
A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for auditable, independent verification of ballots, to ensure the security of voting systems, and for other purposes

S. 3723
A bill to establish a framework for coordination and cooperation on energy and environmental issues among the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and India, and for other purposes

S. 3724
A bill to direct the Secretary to take land into trust for the Te-moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada

My favorite is the bill to prohibit transferring people from Guantanamo Bay to Leavenworth, Kansas. It was introduced by Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas. D’ya suppose he’s worried that they’ll escape?

The drama of the financial services bailout, coming right at the end of the congressional session and the beginning of the new fiscal year, was very distracting. So distracting that it was easy to miss the partial/temporary spending bill that Congress hurriedly passed.

The bill (now law) is Public Law 110-329, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009. Total cost: $8,000 per U.S. family.

The financial services bailout law cost a little under $3,000 per U.S. family, according to our analysis of a relatively vague government cost estimate. (It will probably really cost more like $6,500 per family.)

But this spending bill – which received almost no comment in the press or consideration in either House of Congress – cost about eight large per family.

Here’s a breakdown of where the money goes in the bill, which is split into five “divisions”:

• Division A is a “continuing resolution, which spends money on domestic, non-defense government programs through March 6, 2009. Cost per U.S. family: about $1,650, or $525 per person.
• Division B is “emergency supplemental” spending for relief and recovery from hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters. Cost: $230 per family/$75 per person.
• Division C is spending for the full 2009 fiscal year on the operations of the Department of Defense. Cost: $5,000 per family/$1,600 per person.
• Division D is spending on the Department of Homeland Security for the full 2009 fiscal year. Cost: $410 per family/$131 per person.
• Division E is full fiscal year 2009 spending on military construction and veterans affairs. Cost: about $750 per family/a little under $240 per person.

Congress had essentially been planning to abandon the regular schedule for several months before the beginning of the fiscal year October 1st. The investment banking crisis made the problem worse by drawing everyone’s attention from the really big spending moving through Congress at the same time.

Oh well! Better luck next year, right? Or maybe people will start to insist that Congress use a more careful process when deciding how to spend literally thousands of American families’ dollars.

Silly season on Capitol Hill. It’s that special time of year when Congress nears the end of its scheduled session and decides to do all its work at once. Dozens of bills fly across the House floor with little debate.

They’re not all bad bills, but nothing prevented Congress from addressing them at a careful pace all through the winter, spring, and summer.

This year has been particularly silly, as Congress didn’t even try to follow its annual budgeting and spending process. It just passed a temporary measure on the fly, funding the government through the first half of the fiscal year in one big bill.

Then along came the financial services crisis. (Or is it a “crisis”? I’m less and less sure that it’s a crisis for anyone more than the investment bankers who overextended themselves.)

Smack dab at the end of the session, right when members want to go home and campaign, they have to think about a $700 bailout of the financial services industry. (Text of the proposal that failed Monday is here.)

Congress comes back Thursday – maybe to consider another bailout proposal. Don’t lose focus on that issue just yet!

But for the moment, let’s take a look at some of what the Congress did while we focused on everything else that Congress was doing. These are the bills that went to the floor of the House of Representatives on Saturday. The bills that were on the House floor last Thursday and Friday are here and here. Monday’s bills coming soon:
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Big ol’ Hurricane Gustav is a reminder of Katrina, of course, and things have gone quite a bit differently – in part because of good preparation, but mostly because of luck.

When we were unlucky, we were really unlucky. The result was more than $800 per family in government spending. It’s something we featured in a news release here. (This was before the spectacular WashingtonWatch.com blog, you see.)

Here’s a look at the Katrina-related bills we featured shortly in that disaster’s aftermath – passed bills and pending bills. Of the bills pending, H.R. 3863 passed, becoming Public Law 109-86 and spending another $0.38 per family.

As of October 11, 2005:

Bills already passed:

• P.L. 109-61, A bill making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, to meet immediate needs arising from the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, and for other purposes. Costs: $120.36
• P.L. 109-62, A bill making further emergency supplemental appropriations to meet immediate needs arising from the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes. Costs: $593.78
• P.L. 109-66, The Pell Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act. Costs: $0.02
• P. L. 109-68, The TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005. Costs: $68.77
• P. L. 109-73, The Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005. Saves: $62.11

Bills still under consideration:

• H.R. 3670, A bill to extend for persons affected by Hurricane Katrina the time for appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims of certain decisions of the Board of Veterans Appeals that are rendered during the period from June 1, 2005, through November 30, 2005. Costs: $0.01
• H.R. 3863, The Natural Disaster Student Aid Fairness Act. Costs: $0.38
• S. 1716, The Emergency Health Care Relief Act of 2005. Costs: $96.46
• S. 1738, The Special Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005. Costs: $0.85
• S. 1764, An act to provide for the continued education of students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Costs: $2.43
• S. 1766, The Louisiana Katrina Reconstruction Act. Costs: $1,751.79