Hopefully for the Lakers on both ends of the court

Several Republicans on the appropriations panel complainedthe measure, which aims to jump-start the stumbling economy,contained spending that would fail to produce jobs and wasbeing rushed through Congress too quickly. "We are throwing money down the tubes," said SenatorChristopher Bond, a Missouri Republican. He said the the billwould fail to ease the credit crisis that is at the heart ofthe ailing economy. Besides providing roughly $550 billion in governmentspending, the legislation written by Democrats, who controlCongress, also would provide about $275 billion in tax cuts. The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, SenatorCharles Grassley, groused that Republicans were largely shutout of the committee's work on its part of the package "Wewere never really at the negotiating table," he said.

"I want to make clear that most on our side agree withPresident Obama that a stimulus package is very, verynecessary," Grassley said. "Where we differ is the degree towhich the engine ought to be government or private sector." However, the Iowa Republican told reporters last week thesize of the tax part of the stimulus bill was "about right" andthat most Republicans support about 90 percent of theDemocrats' overall bill. The panel adopted a Grassley provision to fix for one yearthe Alternative Minimum Tax, which was originally designed toensure that wealthy people pay taxes, but instead is hittingmillions of middle-income families House Republicans want a two-year fix. Several other Republican amendments in the FinanceCommittee failed, including ones to reduce the lowest incometax rates, cut capital gains taxes for lower income earners,and turn billions of dollars in grants to states intozero-interest loans (Editing by Patricia Zengerle and Bill Trott) Bonds. ) I’ve got goose bumps by simply hearing the phrase “the Lakers will face the Warriors at the Forum in Inglewood, CA tonight.” Call it a blast from the past but great to hear. The Lakers started the 2009-2010 Pre-Season right where they ended last season convincingly beating their opponent.The exhibition run gave everyone a look at what this team is capable of doing. Ron Artest had a nice debut for Los Angeles with a 12 point, 9 rebound, and 7 assist night.

Andrew Bynum lead the Lakers is scoring with 24 points showing a lot of athleticism finishing at the rim early and often. He also showed that he is fully recovered from the knee injury that plagued him in the playoffs and prepared to be a presence in the paint. Hopefully for the Lakers on both ends of the court.Kobe Bryant put up 22 points and grabbed 9 boards as the defending NBA champions used a balanced scoring effort to win their preseason opener big in Anaheim.The same two teams will match up again this evening under a different roof. Always great to see the start of another basketball season but and even better sight on Wednesday night was to see the Lakers reserves put up 47 points. The bench production in 2009 wasn’t as solid or consistent as it was in 2008.Earlier indications are that this area was addressed by the coaching staff and will improve with Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar & Adam Morrison consistently knocking down open shots.