At a time when our President is telling us that "we all have to make sacrifices" given the economic hardships, Washington continues to carry on with its misplaced priorities.  Instead of pursuing commonsense legislation to right our economic ship, Congress is pursuing its recklessly irresponsible spending habits.

After a two week recess, Congress returns today, and among the pieces of legislation we will be taking up this evening are:

H.Res. 254 - Recognizing the designation of March 2009 as Irish American Heritage Month (Yes, it is April -- it's not a typo, but I guess Democrat leadership couldn't find the time to fit that one in last month. At least it doesn't cost anything.)

H.R. 388 - Crane Conservation Act of 2009

H.R. 411 - Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2009

With regard to the last two, last year I posted on identical legislation passed last Congress, but I guess we still haven't learned our lesson.

The Crane Conservation Act would establish a new grant program to provide money to individuals or groups that work to conserve crane species in Africa, Asia, Europe, or North America. A noble goal, but one that will cost tax payers $25 million over 5 years and focuses largely on overseas programs. Similarly, the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act expands government with your money by creating new grant programs authorizing $25 million over five years to fund rare cat and dog conservation in foreign countries.

With our economy in the condition that it's in, Congress’ time could certainly be better spent than on $50-million legislation like this.