Tuesday Morning Roundup

The regular season is slowly coming to an end. Busch Stadium tickets will be sold out this weekend, I'm confident of that. Last night's game started the final (sadly) homestand at Busch Stadium. Since opening the stadium in 1966, the Cardinals have played 3,164 games at Busch so far, winning 1,757. Their winning percentage so far is .555. During the 2000's, they have had a winning percentage of .631 (304-178). Brad Thompson has been named the Cardinals Rookie of the Year with a 3-0 record and 2.89 ERA in 38 games this season. Chris Carpenter starts tonight.

Bill Frist needs to be investigated if the SEC has yet to do so. He will, inevitably, join Martha Stewart as an insider trader. They would cause him to lose his seat (which he was anyway) and bring Sen. McConnell as Majority Leader. McConnell will lose in 2008. We will bring every Democrat here in 2008 to campaign for our candidate--no matter who we have.

What's going on in the lobbying world? Not much...

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley will be giving a speech tonight at 5:30 PM in Patterson Park before going on a post-announcement tour. It's clear that the Mayor O'Malley is running and I wish him the best of luck. He'd have my vote if I was a Maryland resident (just like Rep. Ben Cardin)!

Both Connecticut senators will vote to confirm John Roberts. It's clear that our own party is divided on the issue.

Another article on Neil Young. Young is best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and CSNY.

Matthew Tully's column today deals with Senator Evan Bayh's vote to not confirm John Roberts.

Steve Pence supports gambling AND the governor-for-now. He officially supports the governor's plan while favoring his own. Wait a minute, is that possible? He can be for it and against it at the same time? Oh, wait a minute, no, nevermind...

Carnival Cruise Line to be paid $236 million for helping victims of Katrina. Now, if it were me, I would be DONATING MY TIME AND SERVICES. We shouldn't turn a temporary thing into a long-term cruise. Though shocking, two Senators agree on the subject of this. The two Senators: Tom Coburn and Barack Obama.

To critics, the price is exorbitant. If the ships were at capacity, with 7,116 evacuees, for six months, the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week, according to calculations by aides to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). A seven-day western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston can be had for $599 a person -- and that would include entertainment and the cost of actually making the ship move.

"When the federal government would actually save millions of dollars by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise it is time to rethink how we are conducting oversight. A short-term temporary solution has turned into a long-term, grossly overpriced sweetheart deal for a cruise line," said Coburn and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a joint statement yesterday calling for a chief financial officer to oversee Katrina spending.

Carnival's bid totaled $192 million over six months, plus $44 million in reimbursable expenses, such as port charges, fuel, food and docking costs. To Carnival executives, the contract will ensure only that the company breaks even when it pulls three ships from holiday operations. About 100,000 passengers had their vacations canceled to accommodate the government's needs, said J. Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines, who has been answering questions about the deal for Carnival.

"In the end, we will make no additional money on this deal versus what we would have made by keeping these ships in service," said Jennifer de la Cruz, a Carnival spokeswoman. "That has been our position from the outset, and it has not changed."

Government contracting officials defended the deal. "They were the market," Capt. Joe Manna, director of contracts at the Sealift Command, said of Carnival. "Under the circumstances, I'd say we're getting a pretty good value."

Coburn and Obama disagreed. "Finding out after the fact that we're spending taxpayer money on no-bid contracts and sweetheart deals for cruise lines is no way to run a recovery effort," they said in the statement.

The Carnival deal is only one of several instances in which a lack of FEMA preparation may have left federal taxpayers with an outsized bill. Despite its experiences with last year's busy hurricane season, FEMA found itself without standing contracts for standard relief items such as blue tarps to cover damaged roofs, according to Thomas A. Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.

"It is ridiculous that they can't have the supply on hand for these basics that you know you'll need in every instance," Schatz said.

Dan Druen altered the hit list.

Gwyneth Paltrow's life is like a sitcom!

Ronnie Wood, of the Rolling Stones, has given up alcohol. While Watts and Jagger are supportive, don't count on Keith Richards!

I'll be back with an interview.