ROBERT SAMUELSON: The Squandered Stimulus: “The program crafted by Obama and the Democratic Congress wasn’t engineered to maximize its economic impact. It was mostly a political exercise, designed to claim credit for any recovery, shower benefits on favored constituencies and signal support for fashionable causes. As a result, much of the stimulus’s potential benefit has been squandered. . . . Here, as elsewhere, there’s a gap between Obama’s high-minded rhetoric and his performance. In February, Obama denounced ‘politics as usual’ in constructing the stimulus. But that’s what we got, and Obama likes the result.”

DEFEATING INSURGENCIES: Doing the math. I wonder, however, how this comports with actual experience?

RICH OBAMA SUPPORTERS discover that their taxes will go up. Another “who are the rubes?” moment . . . .

Meanwhile, Obama’s approve/disapprove numbers are now almost even.

A CREDIT BUBBLE IN CHINA? Their banking system isn’t sounder than ours. They’re just better at hiding problems . . . .

THE CARNIVAL OF SPACE is up!

DUDE, WHERE’S MY BUDGET?

CELEBRATING THE APOLLO ANNIVERSARY with giant Moon Pies.

THE BAY OF PIGS. A lovely photo essay.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: More on the Inspector-General scandals.

Ironically, as Byron York of the Washington Examiner has reported, publicity about scandals at AmeriCorps — especially the taxpayer money misspent by a charity founded by former NBA star Kevin Johnson, an Obama ally who is now the Democratic mayor of Sacramento — was exactly what the administration had hoped to squelch by firing Walpin.

That move has clearly backfired. In addition to the discovery process of a federal lawsuit and the Lieberman-Collins investigation, Walpin’s case is also the subject of a separate inquiry by Sen. Chuck Grassley — the Iowa Republican regarded as the Senate’s patron saint of IGs — as well as an FBI investigation into allegations that someone in Sacramento deleted e-mails relevant to Walpin’s investigation of Johnson’s St. HOPE charity.

Beyond that, Walpin’s dismissal was the first of three similar cases of pressure against IGs, along with the termination of ITC inspector general Judith Gwynne’s contract and the sudden retirement of the Amtrak IG Fred Wiederhold.

Those familiar with the investigations caution against “playing connect-the-dots” with these three distinct cases. However, some informed Republican sources are beginning to call attention to other evidence of a concerted effort to blindfold, muzzle or neuter watchdogs — especially those who dare to growl at Democrats.

Stay tuned.

OBAMA VOTER ANN ALTHOUSE: How Obama Lost Me.

A HEALTH-CARE SUGGESTION THAT’S TOO SENSIBLE TO BE TRIED: “Let the Democrats put forward three different health care reform proposals. Let the Republicans put forward two different proposals. Find five states to volunteer. Each state adopts one of the proposals. Wait several years. See if any of these proposals worked out well, and if so, which one seems best, and why. Learn from this trial and error, and then pass a national health bill, instead of trying an untested, one-size fits all solution for 20% of the American economy.”

JONATHAN ZITTRAIN on the growth of “cloud computing.” “The cloud, however, comes with real dangers.”

BRING BACK THE LONE HARANGUER! The Anchoress declares: The King Is A Fink! Hey, Saul Alinsky said ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. Which is why it’s a bad idea to act ridiculous. . . .

HMM: Terahertz Transistor Could Usher in Era of Cheap Surveillance Video Cameras. Mixed potential, there.

ANOTHER REASON FOR THE RUSH: Advertising Age: Obama Wants to Avoid Health-Care-Reform Ad War. “If supporters of health-care legislation seem like they’re in a hurry to get a bill passed, it might be because they’re hoping to avoid a costly ad war they would stand a good chance of losing. . . . If a health-care bill isn’t passed before the August recess, that opens the door for opponents to appeal to the public.”

NEIL ARMSTRONG AND CRASHING HELICOPTERS: Michael Yon posts another dispatch from Afghanistan.

IN RESPONSE TO YESTERDAY’S POST on the Heinlein junior novels, Brian Erst emails:

Glenn –

Saw your post on Farmer in the Sky. A great way to get the Heinlein Juveniles for a great price and in hardcover is to pick up the SFBC (Science Fiction Book Club) omnibus editions. I picked up four new hardcover volumes on Amazon that contain all 12 of the Scribner’s books, plus Starship Troopers and Podkayne of Mars for $14 – the S&H charges were more! For $30 all in, I got the whole lot – unfortunately, none were fulfilled by Amazon, so no “free” shipping via Prime.

Here are the links to each volume – the prices change, but I can’t imagine anyone having to spend more than $40 for the lot. The books themselves are very nice quality – far better than the paperback editions of the juveniles, which lately are published on very cheap stock.

Four Frontiers (Rocket Ship Galileo, Space Cadet, Red Planet, and Farmer in the Sky) .

To The Stars (Between Planets, The Rolling Stones, Starman Jones and The Star Beast) .

Inifinite Possibilities (Tunnel in the Sky, Time for the Stars and Citizen of the Galaxy) .

Outward Bound (Have Spacesuit—Will Travel, Starship Troopers, Podkayne of Mars) .

I’m very glad that these books are being kept alive. There’s not a lot to compare with them today, although John Varley’s Red Thunder is certainly in the same spirit. And, of course, the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold.

LUNAR PROBE DELIVERS first photographs of old Apollo landing sites.

DONALD DOUGLAS: Obamacare and the Tea Party Effect.

BARACK HUSSEIN