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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 26th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on a bad Christmas tradition in Washington D.C.

CAL THOMAS: When Washington politicians speak of a Christmas tree this time of year, they are not referring to an actual tree. It means they’ve loaded up a bill with another kind of “green,” the kind that’s decorated with money.

The “bipartisan” bill passed just before midnight last Friday, minutes before a government “shutdown” would be an embarrassment to anyone but the politicians who voted for it. Like Christmas, this scenario gets played out almost every year with no regard for the growing debt.

The first bill was more than 1,500 pages. Elon Musk denounced it and suddenly it shrunk to over 100 pages, but that was too little for the big spenders. What passed last week at 118 pages may take days to digest, but you can be sure of one thing: pork is part of it. Always is.

For the last ten years, Republican Senator Rand Paul has published what he calls a “Festivus” report on just some of the wasteful spending in which our Congress is engaged. His latest – and you should Google it to see it all – includes the following:

Some of the highlights – or lowlights as I like to call them — include funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to subsidize ice-skating drag queens and promoting city park circuses. Additionally, the Department of the Interior invested in the construction of a new $12 million Las Vegas Pickleball complex. Interior also allocated $720,479 to wetland conservation projects for ducks in Mexico. This year, the Department of State is featured eleven times, with expenditures including $4.8 million on Ukrainian influencers, $32,596 on breakdancing, $2.1 million for Paraguayan Border Security (what about security at our border?), $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil, and much more!

Hey, it’s not their money, it’s our money.

At least this time a pay raise for members didn’t make it to the final bill. Members should be having their pay cut, not raised, for under-performing.

Perhaps Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk can do something about the misspending that has led to the unsustainable $36 trillion dollar debt with interest of $1 trillion dollars just this year.

Others have tried and failed to break the spending habit. Maybe they will succeed this time, but the odds are not good. It’s not called “the swamp” for nothing.

I hope you had a Happy Christmas. Your politicians did.

I’m Cal Thomas.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.

Sidwell Friends School and St. John’s College continue to headline the District of Columbia girls basketball Top 10 poll.

The undefeated Quakers (7-0 overall) are headed to California to participate in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego while St. John’s (10-0) will be home for Christmas after winning the St. Petersburg bracket at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational in Florida. 

The Cadets will host their Holiday Hoopla mixer, Dec. 30 and 31. 

Theodore Roosevelt debuts in this week’s poll at No. 10. 

Previous rank: 1

The Quakers will play at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego starting Thursday.

Previous rank: 2

The Cadets won the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational championship in Florida.

Previous rank: 3

The Frogs, winners of three straight, next plays at the Christy Winters-Scott Invitational Dec. 31.

Previous rank: 4

The Colts will play Archbishop Carroll at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.

Previous rank: 5

The Cubs will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson (Md.) Friday and Saturday.

Previous rank: 6

The Ramblers will play at the Beltway 8 Holiday Classic in Houston starting Friday.

Previous rank: 7

The Bulldogs will play Charles H. Flowers (Md.) at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday. 

Previous rank: 8

The Tigers will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson Friday and Saturday.

Previous rank: 9

The Penguins split with Anacostia and No. 6 Eastern. 

Previous rank: Not ranked.

The Roughriders will play KIPP School at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.