the watch dog groups citizens against government waste. what are those dirty spots? something about them is endearing but not endearing about lawmakers. we got the numbers for fiscal year 2012 so we brought some of these friends along from the farm. probably better than a lot of things they usually eat. the good news first, pork is down. since the big push to ban ear marks we have seen a big improvement on capitol hill. some good news. earmark spending down 80% from two years ago. that year there were more than 9,000 earmarks which cost $16. billion. the buffet tax would have raised only $4.7 billion a year. the taxpayers that means you are shoveling out $255 million to upgrade these tanks. the pentagon doesn t want the upgrades and the pentagon is upset about the cuts they are facing. if they say they don t need this they probably don t need it. lawmakers from both parties thought otherwise. pork is bipartisan. $48.5 million for the national domestic preparedness consortium.
the u.s. military asked the times not to publish the photos, but the paper s editor defends the move saying, quote, after careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the american mission in afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering u.s. troops. chris lawrence, who is joining us live from the pentagon. chris, first of all, how are the military reacting at this point? reporter: strongly, suzanne, in a word. defense secretary leon panetta thought this was serious enough to have to address it during a nato meeting overseas. he said bluntly, this is war. it is very violent. young people caught up in the moment will make foolish decisions. he also again strongly condemned the paper for releasing the photo saying that the military had urged them not to. he said
a shut-out, triple overtime in utah and did the wizards really beat the bulls? you re watching first look on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow.
peppers, californication i love that. i like it, i like it. joining us is will cain, mark lamont hill, professor at columbia university and john fugelsang, political comedian. i love watching the shuttle take off going into retirement after 39 different flights. even when it s taking off on top of a jumbo jet? yes, will cain. it s amazing, look at how huge that is. i watched it many times from my parents yard in florida. 39 times, more than any other shuttle. it s a piece of history. they ll take the enterprise, which is at the smithsonian now, and was a test model in the 1970s and bring that enterprise to new york, the intrepid museum right near where i live and they ll swap and the discovery will go into the smithsonian so it s a win/win. both enjoy their retirement and hear my jimmy buffett song. papers filed and waiting to hear if the judge in the trayvon martin will remove herself from the case. george zimmerman s defense saying judge jessica rickseidl
they ve repelled the deadly attacks in kabul and three other provinces. the explosions and gun fire have stopped at least for now. the latest on the prostitution scandal. nearly a dozen secret service agents pulled off the job. and the president, not surprisingly, not pleased. i expect that investigation to be thorough and rigorous. ahead, how a complaint from one prostitute in colombia set the scandal in motion. and, yes, that is secretary of state hillary clinton. she was caught on camera, take a look, folks, you don t normally see her had like this. she s knocking down a beer and dancing up a storm at a cuban nightclub in colombia. up first, the alarm after the storm. people in the midwest and plains still reeling from violent and deadly weather. take a look, more than 130 tornadoes touching down over the weekend, many of them in kansas. the governor says 97 twisters were reported there. some of the worst damage, though, was in oklahoma. that state s governor dec