The rally for what could be World War III is in full swing.

In what amounts to a grotesque instance of outright pandering, Department of Defense head Leon Panetta recently spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference and assured the audience that “we will keep all options – including military action – on the table to prevent (Iran) from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” You know you live in a kleptocracy when one of the heads of the federal government openly appeases perhaps the most influential and financially flush lobbying groups in the country.

Panetta’s assurance confirmed what the majority of Americans have long feared- that their government stands ready and willing to involve itself in another war despite public opinion being in opposition of such an excursion.

If the Republican presidential primary has proven anything, besides the propensity for politicians to offer only vague pronouncements and crowd pleasing sound bites on complex issues, it’s that the bloodthirsty urges of the GOP are incapable of being quenched. For years, the neoconservatives who make up the Republican establishment have been pounding the war drums over Iran. About 33,000 American military deaths in Iraq and over 1 million Iraqi casualties have done nothing to dissuade the warmongering rhetoric of the candidates (with the exception of Ron Paul).

On the same day as Panetta’s address to AIPAC, presidential candidate Mitt Romney laid out a “comprehensive” plan to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon in a Washington Post editorial. What does this “comprehensive” plan entail the reader may ask? Simple; just throw more money at a defense department already blowing through its coffers at a sum higher than the top 14 military spenders in the world combined. Armed with political theorist Frederic Bastiat’s invaluable concept of the “unseen,” one can only begin to imagine the technological breakthroughs and consumer satisfying goods such money could have been invested towards if not being pilfered into nation building, military contractor boondoggles, and supporting imperial aggression abroad.

Read More at zerohedge.com By Tyler Durden, zerohedge.com

Who needs Democrats when so many Republicans are willing to orchestrate their agenda for them?

The Senate is on the precipice of passing Barbara Boxer’s highway bill with overwhelming support. Mitch McConnell is negotiating a deal with Harry Reid in which Republicans would be granted a vote on some of their choice non-germane amendments. After Democrats summarily defeat those amendments, Republicans will return the favor by voting for the underlying bill, which overspends its revenue source by 43% and raises taxes to bridge the gap.

The sad thing is that S. 1813 is not just Boxer’s highway bill. It was supported by every Republican on the committee level, and only 9 Republicans voted against cloture to proceed with the bill on the floor. In a sane world, McConnell would be negotiating proposals to cut mass transit and eliminate the 10% beautification mandates on the states instead of securing failed votes on non-germane amendments. Then again, most Republicans in the Senate actually support the idea of federally funded transportation. They also buy into Obama’s puerile logic that it will create new jobs, instead of spreading around existing ones.

Consequently, not only will Senate Republicans decline to block the Obama/Boxer stimulus, they will lock hands with Democrats, pass the Senate bill, and jam House conservatives. For his part, John Boehner is using the Senate bill against conservatives, instead of joining with conservatives, to fight this terrible bill. He will lock arms with Mitch McConnell instead of coalescing behind a devolution bill or the original House bill, which pegged spending to revenues. Later today, he will issue a pungent threat to bring the Senate bill to the House floor if conservatives fail to cooperate with his bill. This, from Politico:

In a closed-door meeting planned for Wednesday, top Republicans are going to deliver a tough but simple message: Continue to stand against the bill and you’re opposing conservative policy that will fix the flawed way Congress funds road-building and energy production. Join the team — support leadership’s plan to pass a House bill — and you can be part of the solution.
“The Senate will pass a bill,” a House leadership aide said. “House members will have to decide whether they want to pass a better bill.” […]

Read More at Red State By Daniel Horowitz, Red State