Just to remember how different things were not too long ago, Milton Friedman talks with Peter Robinson about how to spend the federal surplus.

(CONCORD) Congressman Thaddeus McCotter calls next week’s White House meeting on health care reform “an infomercial for government run health care” and a “fraud upon the American public”. But he says if President Obama is really interested in talking to Republicans about fixing the nation’s health care system, his party has plenty of ideas. The six-term Michigan Republican is stumping across New Hampshire this weekend to try to help his party retake the Granite State’s two Congressional seats currently held by Democratic incumbents; both considered up for grabs in November.

In the Washington Post, Michael Gerson profiles Congressman Paul Ryan’s efforts to corral the Obama Administration’s out of control spending.

The Portsmouth Herald argues that government spending has been rising without sufficient thought into the consequences.

The U.S. Senate spent $1.1 trillion yesterday. How did you spend your Sunday?

The Washington Post reports on yesterday’s key procedural vote that clears the way for the Senate to increase federal spending by 10% in a bill that funds half of the federal government.

There’s a scene in the movie “Ghostbusters” where one character describes the alarming increase in New York’s paranormal activity by comparing it to a Twinkie that is 35 feet long and weighs 600 pounds. “That’s a big Twinkie,” another character responds. It’s a great line from a hilarious movie, and if you substituted the words “paranormal activity” with “national debt” the analogy could be similarly applied — with truly scary effect — to the fiscal situation facing our nation today.