Blog Heap of Links for the day 3 July 2011

during the president's press conference last week... he mentioned eliminating a tax loophole for corporate jets six different times, pretending it's the GOP's commitment to those loopholes standing in the way of a grand bargain to lower the deficit. Beyond that, Obama spoke about the tax loopholes as if they were fiscally significant, offering us the choice between allowing tax loopholes for corporate jet and gutting student loans, food safety, the weather service, and more. The game Obama was playing was both ludicrous and self-indicting.

Houston National Cemetery.... Cemetery officials ordered volunteers to stop telling families 'God bless you' at funeral and said that the words 'God bless' had to be removed from condolence cards, according to court documents filed this week in federal court.

I am an atheist and appreciate that the Constitution protects my right to be so... First Amendment... Which, I take to mean that the government cannot force you to practice a religion of its choosing nor interfere with your practice of a religion of your choice, or choosing to not practice one at all. So if I'm correct about that…then where, exactly, does the Department of Veterans Affairs get off telling anybody they can't say "God bless you" to the family of a fallen soldier?