H/t to Beau Freidlander at Air America Radio for this observation/post. Get a load of this stuff.

Earlier today during Eric Holder’s AG confirmation hearing, Democratic Senator Herb Kohl (WI) asked an old white man question of the African American nominee: Would Holder commit to defeating Obama “as badly as he can” if the two meet up for a little one-on-one on the basketball court.

Eric Holder: “Senator Kohl, Senator Kohl. Um, he’s 10 years younger than me. He plays a lot more frequently than I do. Um, having said that, I got a New York City game. I come from the city that produced Connie Hawkins, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Nate “Tiny” Archibald; I learned how to play ball at PS 127 in Queens. If you give me a little time, a little space to get back in shape, I think I could hang with him. I don’t think I’m ever going to be in a position to beat him nor do I think that would be a wise thing to do.”

Senator Leahy responds:

I’ve been here 34 years in these hearings and that’s the first time that question’s been asked.”

Perhaps another response to Kohl would be “You got Tom Naylor?”

Two sources today have revelations about Douglas's job cuts. You remember that late last year Douglas pushed to save money? Well, they didn't necessarily save money.

First, Dan Barlow reports in the Rutland Herald that Doug Racine has been able to squeeze information out of the Health Department and found out that at least six of the jobs that were cut were 100% funded by federal dollars. That's right: we didn't save a dime in General Fund money by cutting the positions.

Racine said the cuts were made because the department was told to cut a certain number of positions from its budget, but not a specific amount of money.

This morning in the Senate Economic Development Committee, Racine noted that these workers are probably now receiving unemployment benefits through the state.

“This is actually costing us more,” he said.

This follows on a story from Seven Days. Shay Totten has been able to dig up a very similar story.

The Body Count — Few people noticed that about a third of the 150 jobs Douglas cut from state government this summer were funded by the feds.

According to a tally by “Fair Game,” 22 of those jobs were fully funded by the feds; another 15 were at least half-funded (50 to 95 percent); and another 22 were less than half-funded by Uncle Sam.

Another 35 state-funded positions were on the books — some since 2006 — but never filled.

Like I say, the same story: Douglas wanted to be able to show job cuts, no matter whether they saved us any money, or no matter what services were lost.

We've heard the same story around here. Green Mountain Daily has learned that the Department of Education got its target from the Fifth Floor, and was able to cut enough money to meet its target without any job cuts. Guess what: the list came back from the Fifth Floor, rejected. Why? They didn't want to cut money, but bodies. Without the staff cuts, Douglas and his people weren't interested.

I guess you could chalk this up to the Scissorhands Phenomenon: he's not interested in governing, he has no interest in what the government actually does, but he definitely wants to be seen doing something. Regardless of whether it does anything for the people of Vermont.

Three guesses as to what that quote’s about.

“Think of it as a radio contest.”

Hmm… something that gets you a prize of some sort?  A chance to win inaugural tickets?  Perhaps a game?

Not so much so.

This is what Commissioner Patricia Moulton Powden had to say about the following.  Per The Rutland Herald…

As the economy continues to slink downward, the Vermont Department of Labor has been swamped with new unemployment claims – and the state is now scrambling to get more workers in front of phones to help out residents who have lost their jobs.

Commissioner Patricia Moulton Powden told lawmakers Wednesday that her department has seen a more than 100 percent increase in calls in the last two months. There were 7,300 weekly unemployment claims in November, she added, compared with 16,000 by the end of December.

This has meant that the state Labor Department often does not have enough staff to handle all the calls and Vermonters are getting busy signals or the “circuits are busy” message when they try to call.

And while the state has been adding staff to the call centers, Powden said Vermonters who need the services should keep on calling.

“Think of it as a radio contest,” she said. “Just hit the redial button.”

This is a little more serious than this sort of flip response.  But I bet if we wanted to save a little money, we could just outsource this to India.