GAO: BUSH ADMIN IS FULL OF IT

Government cost estimates of a new program that will require meat packages to be labeled with their countries of origin are "questionable and not well supported," congressional auditors said last week. [Sorry, I meant to get this up sooner.] The USDA said the cost of paperwork for the first year of the program would be $1.9 billion - but the GAO says the USDA "could provide no documentation to support its estimates," and it assumed an hourly rate of $50 for processors to develop and keep a record system, which was more than double the hourly rates it used in recent estimates for other programs. A Republican senator reminded us why this is important: Mike Enzi, R-Wyo said, "On shoes, they tell you what the country of origin is. On underwear they tell you what the country of origin is ... but I tell you those things that you wear can't hurt you nearly as much as the things you put in your body." If, that is, you put dead flesh into your body.