A message to Jesse haters
Jesse's done it again. I'll be waiting patiently for your outrage and condemnation. Not.
July 10, 2008
July 04, 2008
Worth a thousand words
This reminds me of this. The former. The latter. Related.
Hat tip, Bubba.
June 27, 2008
Media General newspaper in Danville subject of sexual harrasment claim
While perusing the web, I came across my old friend's website.
He had a link to a new blog by a former Media General reporter in Danville.
I feel bad for this veteran reporter and the way she was treated.
But I am not surprised at anything that goes on in a Media General newsroom.
Give her site a look, and give her an attaboy for standing against the wind.
Excerpt:
"The post I think most of you are looking for is entitled "Were you filmed?" and it refers to reporter Mac McLean filming local businesswomen's breasts without their knowledge or consent and then showing the videos to the newsroom in a loud, inappropriate manner and the men, including the managers - who came over to look at the video and laugh. [Yeah - what if it was you? Or your wife? Funny then??]
Were you filmed is the original post. You can scroll to the bottom of this page or check the archives if you can't find it. I ask the question because there were two videos that I am personally aware of. One was posted online that I know of and the other was ???? I don't know. Steve Kaylor went in search of it when I complained initially, but nothing was ever done or said about it and he later denied having any knowledge of the event. I guess he forgot about our emails about it. I've posted them as well.
There may or may not have been other women filmed. I would say there were since the first two seemed to make Mac so happy. Any time a grown man yells "I can see her nipples" in a crowded workplace where both men and women are you have to wonder about his mental and emotional maturity and whether or not he actually listened to those sexual harassment videos. I doubt it."
He had a link to a new blog by a former Media General reporter in Danville.
I feel bad for this veteran reporter and the way she was treated.
But I am not surprised at anything that goes on in a Media General newsroom.
Give her site a look, and give her an attaboy for standing against the wind.
Excerpt:
"The post I think most of you are looking for is entitled "Were you filmed?" and it refers to reporter Mac McLean filming local businesswomen's breasts without their knowledge or consent and then showing the videos to the newsroom in a loud, inappropriate manner and the men, including the managers - who came over to look at the video and laugh. [Yeah - what if it was you? Or your wife? Funny then??]
Were you filmed is the original post. You can scroll to the bottom of this page or check the archives if you can't find it. I ask the question because there were two videos that I am personally aware of. One was posted online that I know of and the other was ???? I don't know. Steve Kaylor went in search of it when I complained initially, but nothing was ever done or said about it and he later denied having any knowledge of the event. I guess he forgot about our emails about it. I've posted them as well.
There may or may not have been other women filmed. I would say there were since the first two seemed to make Mac so happy. Any time a grown man yells "I can see her nipples" in a crowded workplace where both men and women are you have to wonder about his mental and emotional maturity and whether or not he actually listened to those sexual harassment videos. I doubt it."
June 24, 2008
Sec. Rice on "The New American Realism"
Secretary of State Rice gives a broad review of the Bush foreign policy. I hope there is something worthwhile in there.
*What has not changed is that our relations with traditional and emerging great powers still matter to the successful conduct of policy. Thus, my admonition in 2000 that we should seek to get right the "relationships with the big powers" -- Russia, China, and emerging powers such as India and Brazil -- has consistently guided us. As before, our alliances in the Americas, Europe, and Asia remain the pillars of the international order, and we are now transforming them to meet the challenges of a new era.
What has changed is, most broadly, how we view the relationship between the dynamics within states and the distribution of power among them. As globalization strengthens some states, it exposes and exacerbates the failings of many others -- those too weak or poorly governed to address challenges within their borders and prevent them from spilling out and destabilizing the international order. In this strategic environment, it is vital to our national security that states be willing and able to meet the full range of their sovereign responsibilities, both beyond their borders and within them. This new reality has led us to some significant changes in our policy. We recognize that democratic state building is now an urgent component of our national interest. And in the broader Middle East, we recognize that freedom and democracy are the only ideas that can, over time, lead to just and lasting stability, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq.*
June 09, 2008
Whacko/wingnut compromise could lead to energy independence (don't hold your breath)
So I heard a GOP congressman say on the House Republican Conference podcast that there are 1.5 trillion barrels of oil* within reach of domestic production. I've been studying the issue and debating with my dad over ANWAR and offshore drilling. He was going on and on about the Chinese drilling 90 miles from Florida while we couldn't drill in our own territory.
I didn't really believe him, but I know he listens to talk radio all day in the car and watches Fox at home, so I figured it was a talking point last week.
Sure enough, there goes another member of the House conference talking about the Chinese drilling in Cuba.
It figures.
Now, I've been studying the domestic oil situation and came across a few USGS documents that said there are about 7 billion proven barrels in ANWAR and about 21 billion proven in the total US.
By comparison, our newest colony, where we have spent 520 billion dollars in the last five years, has 112 billion proven barrels of oil.
So here is my question. And my comment.
Wouldn't the absolute strategic thing to do be to drain all the oil we can from the rest of the world while sitting on our reserves (don't get high on your own supply, and all), thus ensuring that when the rest of the world is sucked dry, we still have 10-15 billion barrels in reserve?
Second, how is it conservative to advocate the draining of our own reserves, endanger our own natural resources, and abnegate our own technological development so that we can maintain our addiction to oil?
Maybe if the wingnuts will allow the pinko-environmentalist to raise the CAFE standards and bring more electric hybrids to the market, the whacko environmentalist will let the right wing fascists drill for more domestic oil.
Now that's what they call government.
* I'm going to assume the congressman was talking about oil shale, since we do have 1.5 trillion barrels in proven reserves of that. So the GOP plan seems to be to strip mine anywhere there is oil shale and have us run the economy off of this stuff, which one congressman says is opposed by "radical environmentalist" who claim it emits twice the greenhouse gases that regular oil products do. Those wascally wadicals.
May 28, 2008
"It is contained only on planet earth."
Via 60 Minutes comes the best summary I've heard yet on the subprime crisis and how far it's tendrils reach into the world economy:
"One hundred of the world's biggest financial institutions now are on the hook for a reported total of $379 billion in bad debt - and counting ...
... Asked how many of these securities are out there, Grant says, "A trillion with a T-plus.
Asked who bought them and owns them, Grant says, "You know, state pension funds, the hedge funds bought them. Foreign central banks own some of these things, if you please. So the ownership is very widely dispersed, which accounts for the general anxiety, and the persistence of anxiety."
"One hundred of the world's biggest financial institutions now are on the hook for a reported total of $379 billion in bad debt - and counting ...
... Asked how many of these securities are out there, Grant says, "A trillion with a T-plus.
Asked who bought them and owns them, Grant says, "You know, state pension funds, the hedge funds bought them. Foreign central banks own some of these things, if you please. So the ownership is very widely dispersed, which accounts for the general anxiety, and the persistence of anxiety."
May 27, 2008
Bush, Mccain, dead wrong on GI Bill
NYT:
"So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home."
I try. I really do. I don't want to criticize my own president, but he makes it necessary sometimes. I know W. has said he doesn't care about history, or how it will judge him, but you think somebody in his administration would know something, if not much, about history.
Opposing updates to the GI Bill is ridiculous. The GI Bill is one of the fairest, if not most effective, policies this country has ever had. Giving incentive to serve, in the form of money for college for service personnel, is a double good. You reward them for effort by giving them a larger opportunity that requires even more effort. There is no handout involved.
That's why Bush, and McCain, are so wrong.
Hoover was wrong too, about a lot of things. Bush has more in common with Hoover the more I think about it.
May 20, 2008
It's not gay marriage that really bothers me
I think this proves that we, as a nation, have lost our way:
"What happened to him?
We know what happened initially from the accounts of three M.P.’s: Mark Nagy, Jason Kenner, and Walter (Tony) Diaz. Al-Jamadi was put in a stress position, a “Palestinian hanging” — a low-budget crucifixion without the nails. His arms were handcuffed behind him and then the handcuffs were suspended from a window frame. [5,6,7] (As a prisoner becomes weaker and weaker, greater and greater pressure is put on the arms, potentially pulling them out of the sockets.) He is left alone in the room with a C.I.A. interrogator, Mark Swanner, and a C.I.A. translator, identified in various reports as Clint C. [8]"
April 28, 2008
A call for separate and unequal
Two recent items in the NYT on education are worth a read:
Chicago school teacher Will Okun:
"[O]ur school has too many students who are making no legitimate effort to learn or pass classes. These students attend periodically to socialize, to sell drugs or to alleviate boredom. Some are mandated to attend by the court of law or by a relative. Others are just too young to drop out. They do not carry book bags; they are not in possession of pen or paper. When the hallways and classrooms are in order, these students mourn, “It’s dead as hell in here.” The threat of F’s, parent conferences, detentions, and suspensions are pointless. Unfortunately, no one in the family seems to care. Only the threat of expulsion garners temporary compliance."
A gem in comments:
"Disruption and dysfunction are the enemy of achievement for enormous numbers of students. Yet we do nothing for them. We simply must draw a bright, shining line around those who are ready to learn, and let nothing interfere with their education."
Chicago school teacher Will Okun:
"[O]ur school has too many students who are making no legitimate effort to learn or pass classes. These students attend periodically to socialize, to sell drugs or to alleviate boredom. Some are mandated to attend by the court of law or by a relative. Others are just too young to drop out. They do not carry book bags; they are not in possession of pen or paper. When the hallways and classrooms are in order, these students mourn, “It’s dead as hell in here.” The threat of F’s, parent conferences, detentions, and suspensions are pointless. Unfortunately, no one in the family seems to care. Only the threat of expulsion garners temporary compliance."
A gem in comments:
"Disruption and dysfunction are the enemy of achievement for enormous numbers of students. Yet we do nothing for them. We simply must draw a bright, shining line around those who are ready to learn, and let nothing interfere with their education."
April 22, 2008
No Child Left Prepared?
"An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That’s more than a million every year, a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.
Ignorance in the United States is not just bliss, it’s widespread. A recent survey of teenagers by the education advocacy group Common Core found that a quarter could not identify Adolf Hitler, a third did not know that the Bill of Rights guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and fewer than half knew that the Civil War took place between 1850 and 1900.
“We have one of the highest dropout rates in the industrialized world,” said Allan Golston, the president of U.S. programs for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In a discussion over lunch recently he described the situation as “actually pretty scary, alarming.”
Roughly a third of all American high school students drop out. Another third graduate but are not prepared for the next stage of life — either productive work or some form of post-secondary education.
When two-thirds of all teenagers old enough to graduate from high school are incapable of mastering college-level work, the nation is doing something awfully wrong."
April 14, 2008
March 04, 2008
Mexican smugglers installing doors and locks on US border fence
Countermeasures, part II:
*No amount of fencing would seriously deter illegal crossers, border-town officials insist, and the effort actually makes things worse: You have to build roads to build the fence, and the new roads connect with old ones and vastly increase their usefulness to smugglers in cars and trucks. Mayor Ray Borane of Douglas, Ariz., said that people on the Mexican side have cut through his section of the fence with torches, welding on doors with their own locks, going in and out at will.*
*No amount of fencing would seriously deter illegal crossers, border-town officials insist, and the effort actually makes things worse: You have to build roads to build the fence, and the new roads connect with old ones and vastly increase their usefulness to smugglers in cars and trucks. Mayor Ray Borane of Douglas, Ariz., said that people on the Mexican side have cut through his section of the fence with torches, welding on doors with their own locks, going in and out at will.*
March 02, 2008
Conventional auto engines waste 82 percent of the gas you put in it
I'm thinking about going Green. This alone makes me wonder why we remain addicted to fossil fuels to power our automobiles (found while poking around here):
*Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous.*
So for every $3.20 you put in your tank, $1.99 is lost to inefficiency in the engine and .55 cents is lost during idle or standby.
So $2.54 of the current price of a gallon of gas is wasted and provides you no energy to move your vehicle.
Or looked at another way, for every drop of blood we give to protect our oil supply in foreign countries, we consumers waste 82 percent of that sacrifice for no good reason.
*Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous.*
So for every $3.20 you put in your tank, $1.99 is lost to inefficiency in the engine and .55 cents is lost during idle or standby.
So $2.54 of the current price of a gallon of gas is wasted and provides you no energy to move your vehicle.
Or looked at another way, for every drop of blood we give to protect our oil supply in foreign countries, we consumers waste 82 percent of that sacrifice for no good reason.
February 25, 2008
Elected experience of our greatest presidents
I've been watching An American Lion this weekend (along with Michael Clayton and Donnie Brasco, but that's another story.)It struck me that TR had so little elective experience yet is one of the greatest presidents ever. I think by now the Lincoln comparisons to Obama are clear, but the TR experience really hit me.
I was going to research the elective experience of some of our presidents, but I saw that a poster on Barack Obama's website has already done the heavy lifting:
*"At the time of inauguration in January 2009, Obama will have served 4 years in the U.S. Senate and 7 years in the Illinois State Senate for a total of 11 years as an elected official.
Lincoln served 2 years in U.S. House of Representatives and 8 years in the Illinois State House of Representatives for a total of 10 years as an elected official.
Woodrow Wilson was Governor for about 1.5 years. Large-scale: 1.5 years, Total: 1.5 years.
Teddy Roosevelt was Vice President for 1 year, Governor for 2 years and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for 1 year. He also had a distinguished military career, and it should probably be noted that I don't include that in my calculations in spite of its potential relevance. Large-scale: 3 years, small-scale: 1 year, Total: 4 years. (editor's note: TR also served two years in the New York state legislature from 1882-1884, until the death on the same day of his wife and mother. He resigned the assembly and went to North Dakota.)
Thomas Jefferson has above average experience so, even though much of his career is also prior to the formation of the Republic, I include him. He was Vice President for 4 years, Governor for 2 years, and Secretary of State for 4 years. Large-scale: 10 years, Total: 10 years.*"
Big pharm sans competition
Like the electric car, we once again have an instance of corporations stifling competition in order to inflate the cost of a consumer item. It's no wonder medical costs are unbearable, with the failure of meaningful tort reform and corporate collusion keeping the price to consumers in the stratosphere.
Related:
I had a good discussion with a veteran administrator from a local health system. He said capping jury awards alone would be a significant step toward making free market health care more affordable.
Where are the pragmatists?
WaPo:
*"Cephalon was entitled to defend its patent in court. Instead, it fought back unfairly. The company paid the competing manufacturers more than $200 million in exchange for their agreements to keep their products off the market for nearly seven years. This payoff benefited the generic manufacturers enormously: They made more by sitting on their hands than they ever could have the old-fashioned way, by entering the market and competing. For Cephalon, too, the payoff was a bargain: Chief executive Frank Baldino Jr. acknowledged that it made about $4 billion "that no one expected."*
February 24, 2008
Escape from suburbia?
This article in The Atlantic Monthly seems important:
*At Windy Ridge, a recently built starter-home development seven miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, 81 of the community’s 132 small, vinyl-sided houses were in foreclosure as of late last year. Vandals have kicked in doors and stripped the copper wire from vacant houses; drug users and homeless people have furtively moved in. In December, after a stray bullet blasted through her son’s bedroom and into her own, Laurie Talbot, who’d moved to Windy Ridge from New York in 2005, told The Charlotte Observer, “I thought I’d bought a home in Pleasantville. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that stuff like this would happen.”*
February 22, 2008
"Who killed the electric car?"
Watched this movie last night. You should watch it too.
Get involved.
Existential heroine of the month.
*Hydrogen is not the answer.Because of the high energy losses within a hydrogen economy the synthetic energy carrier cannot compete with electricity. As the fundamental laws of physics cannot be chanced by research, politics or investments, a hydrogen economy will never make sense.*
More:
*For the establishment of a sustainable energy future the present energy system has to undergo significant changes, not just minor adaptations or modifications. The key point is the transition from a chemical energy base built on fossil fuels to a physical energy base built mainly on electricity from renewable sources. This transition is predetermined by the laws of physics. It cannot be avoided or significantly delayed by politics. However, the transition will proceed more smoothly, if all players agree to move into the same direction.
Without the slightest doubt, the technology for a hydrogen economy exists or can be developed in reasonable time. Also, hydrogen is an appropriate energy carrier for particular niche applications, or it may become an important medium for electricity storage with reversible fuel cells. But hydrogen can never establish itself as a dominant energy carrier. It has to be fabricated from high grade energy and it has to compete with high grad energy in the marketplace.
Hydrogen cannot win this fight against its own energy source. Therefore, the answer to the question: "Does a Hydrogen Economy make Sense?" is an unconditional "NEVER". A global hydrogen economy has no past, present or future! *
February 15, 2008
David Brooks looks at the big picture
That David Brooks! I love it when somebody speaks the unvarnished truth:
*If there is one thing we have learned over the bitter experience of the past 30 years, it is that per-pupil expenditures and days in the classroom are not sufficient to produce superb information-economy workers. They emerge from intact families, quality neighborhoods and healthy moral cultures.
Finally, doing that would mean laying down lifelong policies. Human capital development is like nutrition — you have to do it every day.
The first group of policies would foster two-parent families. If all American families looked like the intact middle-class ones, we wouldn’t have nationally low education outcomes. Married men earn 10 percent to 40 percent more than single men with similar skills, and their children are much more likely to graduate from high school. But among the lower-middle class, there is a poisonous spiral of economic stress and cultural decay.*
*If there is one thing we have learned over the bitter experience of the past 30 years, it is that per-pupil expenditures and days in the classroom are not sufficient to produce superb information-economy workers. They emerge from intact families, quality neighborhoods and healthy moral cultures.
Finally, doing that would mean laying down lifelong policies. Human capital development is like nutrition — you have to do it every day.
The first group of policies would foster two-parent families. If all American families looked like the intact middle-class ones, we wouldn’t have nationally low education outcomes. Married men earn 10 percent to 40 percent more than single men with similar skills, and their children are much more likely to graduate from high school. But among the lower-middle class, there is a poisonous spiral of economic stress and cultural decay.*
February 11, 2008
Where's yer treasure?
This is a random reminder that the cost of the War in Iraq will top $500 billion sometime this month. That is an estimated cost of $12 billion to taxpayers in North Carolina.
We could have provided more than 2.6 million scholarships to university students in this state for a like amount.
End of reminder.
February 10, 2008
More GOP scandals to come?
Sen. Coburn gets it:
*In his State of the Union address, the president vowed to veto any appropriation bill "that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half." Coburn tartly notes that although Congress hardly needs 5,500 earmarks -- half of last year's total -- the president's goal would be met if Republicans themselves quit earmarking. That fact goes far to explain the Republicans' current and future minority status.*
*In his State of the Union address, the president vowed to veto any appropriation bill "that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half." Coburn tartly notes that although Congress hardly needs 5,500 earmarks -- half of last year's total -- the president's goal would be met if Republicans themselves quit earmarking. That fact goes far to explain the Republicans' current and future minority status.*
February 06, 2008
Economist James Glassman sounds positive note
A good podcast from Bloomberg finds James Glassman upbeat about the non-housing sectors of the economy. Says recent policy action should make second half of 2008 robust. (Updated: A friend suggested I point out that Glassman is a senior economist at JP Morgan and not the James K. Glassman known for his work with the American Enterprise Institute.)
I'm no economist, so listen to him for the perspective. (Date of podcast Feb. 4)
Morgan Stanley's David Greenlaw follows with a balanced forecast (podcast) of a mild recession.
Lot's of talk of the TED spread. Neat concept.
January 25, 2008
George Bush has lost his mind, part II
Here is another for W's *WTF* file:
Paul Wolfowitz is returning to the Bush administration as a security adviser, and even before it was official, the appointment was drawing boos, the New York Times reports. The controversial figure will take Fred Thompson’s seat as chairman of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board, an influential group studying arms control and military issues. • Wolfowitz ended his tenure as World Bank chief mired in scandal, but for critics his role as an architect of the Iraq war is more damning. “The advice given by Paul Wolfowitz over the past six years ranks among the worst provided by any defense official in history,” said one policy researcher. “I have no idea why anyone would want more.”
January 23, 2008
Clinton hypocrisy is detestable
The point is that Obama gave every dime of Rezko's contributions to charity after questions were raised about Rezko's ethics.
From NBC's "First Read"
*Obama's Tough Press Day: Rezko is EVERYWHERE today. The Clinton campaign always wondered what it would take for the media to cover this story nationally. Well, have the candidate utter the words "slum lord" in a debate and voila. It's easily Obama's worst free press day of the campaign. It's also a bit ironic, too, given that the Clintons have had many more problematic donors than Obama (Hsu, Gupta, Chung, Denise Rich, those donations to the Clinton Library). Then again, the point of the Clintons pushing Rezko is to make Obama look like just another politician who got caught up with a questionable donor. And if the Clintons can prove Obama's no better than them then they can beat him on other points. It's also worth asking why Rezko, and not Wal-Mart, is getting all the play today. The Clintons -- at least in the short term -- won the spin war after a debate that looked like a draw to us. Meanwhile, the Obama folks are pushing the two Clintons vs. one Obama story, and it's getting its share of pickup. But nothing like Rezko today.*
Obama's own words in 2006:
*"With respect to the purchase of my home, I am confident that everything was handled ethically and above board. But I regret that while I tried to pay close attention to the specific requirements of ethical conduct, I misgauged the appearance presented by my purchase of the additional land from Mr. Rezko," Obama said.
"It was simply not good enough that I paid above the appraised value for the strip of land that he sold me. It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a favor," the senator said.
The land deal came up in a court hearing Friday that delved into Rezko's finances. Obama said he has not been approached by federal prosecutors about the transaction nor has plans to go to them about it.
Obama and Rezko have been friends since 1990, and Obama said the Wilmette businessman raised as much as $60,000 for him during his political career. After Rezko's indictment, Obama donated $11,500 to charity--a total that represents what Rezko contributed to the senator's federal campaign fund. *
January 17, 2008
Voters should reject a return to the Clinton era
I don't care who the next president is, as long as we don't let these people back in the White House.
Calling our bluff (or, for every measure there is a countermeasure)
Reuters:
*Colombia's success in breaking the power of its big cartels was due partly to close cooperation with the U.S. which provided money and intelligence. The unintended consequence: much of the illicit business previously run from Colombia moved to Mexico.
Now, along the border, Mexican drug traffickers are trying to extend their culture of corruption to the north, targeting Border Patrol and military officials they think might be tempted by easy money.
"In the U.S., the region most vulnerable to corruption is the U.S.-Mexican border and particularly the border with Arizona," said Paul Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona who is now partner in a law firm. "The temptations are just extraordinary."
Over the past few years, investigators have uncovered scores of U.S. public employees who accepted bribes for helping to move drugs or look the other way. The latest was an Arizona prison officer sentenced this month to 15 months for taking cash from people he thought were drug traffickers.*
*Colombia's success in breaking the power of its big cartels was due partly to close cooperation with the U.S. which provided money and intelligence. The unintended consequence: much of the illicit business previously run from Colombia moved to Mexico.
Now, along the border, Mexican drug traffickers are trying to extend their culture of corruption to the north, targeting Border Patrol and military officials they think might be tempted by easy money.
"In the U.S., the region most vulnerable to corruption is the U.S.-Mexican border and particularly the border with Arizona," said Paul Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona who is now partner in a law firm. "The temptations are just extraordinary."
Over the past few years, investigators have uncovered scores of U.S. public employees who accepted bribes for helping to move drugs or look the other way. The latest was an Arizona prison officer sentenced this month to 15 months for taking cash from people he thought were drug traffickers.*
Economic stimulus is the worst possible fix for what ails us
NYT:
*Among the proposals circulating among Democrats are one-time tax rebates to almost all workers; temporary increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps and Medicaid payments; and federal grants to state and local governments. Some Democrats are pushing for increased spending on public infrastructure like highways and bridges, but aides to Ms. Pelosi said that issue might be dealt with separately to avoid slowing down any stimulus package.*
I believe the future economic health of the nation may well be tied to the current debate of an economic stimulus package.
Now, I am sure we would all love to have some extra money in out pockets, but I submit that no one should decide the merits of another handout from Washington until they have read these two cogent articles from James Fallows.
For the life of me, I wish someone would form a new "Realism Party" that stood for fiscal discipline, investing in the future and traditional morals all with the end goal of unleashing and channeling American ingenuity toward solving problems and creating a foundation for continued American prosperity for the next 200 years.
*Among the proposals circulating among Democrats are one-time tax rebates to almost all workers; temporary increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps and Medicaid payments; and federal grants to state and local governments. Some Democrats are pushing for increased spending on public infrastructure like highways and bridges, but aides to Ms. Pelosi said that issue might be dealt with separately to avoid slowing down any stimulus package.*
I believe the future economic health of the nation may well be tied to the current debate of an economic stimulus package.
Now, I am sure we would all love to have some extra money in out pockets, but I submit that no one should decide the merits of another handout from Washington until they have read these two cogent articles from James Fallows.
For the life of me, I wish someone would form a new "Realism Party" that stood for fiscal discipline, investing in the future and traditional morals all with the end goal of unleashing and channeling American ingenuity toward solving problems and creating a foundation for continued American prosperity for the next 200 years.
January 15, 2008
Dichotomy
I understand the logic in arguing for higher gas taxes to pay for infrastructure, but if we go green and gas consumption falls where will we then get our money?
Why does this picture hurt?
January 14, 2008
Winds of change
Jonah Goldberg dissects conservatism's fog
*In other words, there's a huge crowd of self-described conservatives standing around the Republican elephant shouting "Do something!" But what they want the poor beast to do is very unclear. And it doesn't take an expert in pachyderm psychology to know that if a big enough mob shouts at an elephant long enough, the most likely result will be a mindless stampede -- in this case, either to general election defeat or to disastrously unconservative policies, or both.
The traditional conservative believes that if you don't have a good idea for what an elephant should be doing, the best course is to encourage it to do nothing at all. Alas, the chorus shouting, "Don't just do something, stand there!" shrinks by the day.*
*In other words, there's a huge crowd of self-described conservatives standing around the Republican elephant shouting "Do something!" But what they want the poor beast to do is very unclear. And it doesn't take an expert in pachyderm psychology to know that if a big enough mob shouts at an elephant long enough, the most likely result will be a mindless stampede -- in this case, either to general election defeat or to disastrously unconservative policies, or both.
The traditional conservative believes that if you don't have a good idea for what an elephant should be doing, the best course is to encourage it to do nothing at all. Alas, the chorus shouting, "Don't just do something, stand there!" shrinks by the day.*
January 13, 2008
Jim Neal turning to NYC gay scene for financing
Just when I had begun to check out Jim Neal's web site in order to consider his merits as a candidate for US Senate, and was fairly impressed to see his web site devoid of mention of his chosen sexuality, comes this post from Ed Cone:
*'I am gay and the most viable gay person to ever challenge an incumbent US senator in what many consider a 'red state' ...*
The item further mentions a part of Neal's fundraising strategy:
*Neal ... is coming to New York for a huge fund-raiser being thrown Jan. 31 by painter Ross Bleckner in his studio.*
Haven't heard of Bleckner? Me either. But a minutes worth of internetting showed me where Neal's true support lies:
*What should we make of Bleckner's famous friends? His friendships with Geffen et al. have to be understood in the context of his sexual identity: The gay world is at the core of Bleckner's many circles, and he's become enmeshed in the tiny power elite that also revolves around other gay [stars].*
Good luck with that, Mr. Neal.
*'I am gay and the most viable gay person to ever challenge an incumbent US senator in what many consider a 'red state' ...*
The item further mentions a part of Neal's fundraising strategy:
*Neal ... is coming to New York for a huge fund-raiser being thrown Jan. 31 by painter Ross Bleckner in his studio.*
Haven't heard of Bleckner? Me either. But a minutes worth of internetting showed me where Neal's true support lies:
*What should we make of Bleckner's famous friends? His friendships with Geffen et al. have to be understood in the context of his sexual identity: The gay world is at the core of Bleckner's many circles, and he's become enmeshed in the tiny power elite that also revolves around other gay [stars].*
Good luck with that, Mr. Neal.
January 12, 2008
Examining McCain's legislative record
NRO:
*The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter.*
*The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter.*
Fair Tax or not?
I've spent the last two days reading up on the Fair Tax. I'm still undecided as to the efficacy of the idea, but I lean toward the against column. I'm still trying to make sense of the price issue and what the end tax burden will be once state and local sales and property taxes are added in.
This piece (.pdf file) is a cogent argument against the idea, published last month in the journal Tax Notes:
*Quite apart from the fact that there is zero chance that Congress would ever enact it, it is clear,
writes Bartlett, that the FairTax simply would not work at all if it were tried, which is why no country
has ever attempted to collect all its revenue from a retail sales tax.*
I came across it at the Fair Tax Blog.
As a rule, I think it is absurd to increase the number of checks mailed out by the IRS by 12 fold. Also, as pointed out in the article, the FT's inherent rebate system is actually like a national welfare system. I can't understand conservatives being in favor of that.
Further, if all prices are needed to increase 23 percent to represent the inclusive tax, I think it would be quite hard to separate that rise from the concept of inflation in the layman's mind
Lastly, the author also points out that the FT would not be free from political manipulation, and thus tax policy would remain an issue to be wielded by politicians looking to curry favor with special interests or flat out buy votes.
I remain undecided, but the Fair Tax increasingly resembles more right wing hyperbole masquerading as foresight.
Of course, the possibility remains that I could be flat wrong.
January 09, 2008
Barnett on "the Pentagon's new map"
I just watched the best power point presentation ever. It was by Thomas PM Barnett at last year's TED Conference (more on that later if it all sinks in.)
If you are interested in the future of American military strategy and would like an honest assessment of why Iraq went so bad for so long I suggest watching the 25 minute video.
If you are interested in the future of American military strategy and would like an honest assessment of why Iraq went so bad for so long I suggest watching the 25 minute video.
Media General revamps the bell curve
Media General stock has lost about half its value since November 2007, that is after losing the first half of its value in the two years prior.
MG employees with huge IRA and 401k holdings of MG stock are beginning to revolt.
With the stock tanking below 20 just after Christmas, J. Stewart Bryan III exercised an option on more than 20,000 shares at a price of $31.44. That's $638,000 if you are keeping score.
*With Media General management slamming the door to the board for any large shareholder it makes it impossible for the retail investor to buy MEG. The funds and money managers are dumping this stock every day. Anyone that buys in get their head handed back to them on a silver platter. I can't understand the reason behind the 2 tier system. They will keep their 2 tier system with the class A shares selling for about 5 bucks. These assholes don't give a @#$% about anyone or anything. I'm selling all my MEG that I have bought MEG in my IRA for over 20 years and I paid much higher prices. Management can stick them up their ass. @#$% them all. 7-Jan-08 05:13 pm harley_riding_dude*
*I can put it into other funds. I paid a much higher price for the MEG I bought. I’ve paid over $37.00 for the entire period for the stock. It's half that now. I hate to sell MEG and go into a fund just when the market is starting to tank because of recession worries. I've known for some while that the internet was hurting MEG but this last 3 months have been brutal. I just haven't had a good opportunity to make the move. A small bounce. Management has not responded in any way. Sell the TV stations and pay down debt for Christ’s sake. Get rid of the 2 tier system so the large holder can participate in the decisions of the company. Get off your fat asses before MEG trades in the single digits. Maybe that is what they want so they can take the company private. 8-Jan-08 09:38 am harley_riding_dude*
No matter how bad the employees future looks, you can always rest in the comfort of knowing that J Stew's MG stock is down to a value of about $9 million, from $17 million in November 2007 and about $40 million in 2005.
That's some fancy bell curve you got going on there Stew.
January 08, 2008
Gitmo shame lingers
This article is a month old, but well linked to relevant sources regarding the thorn in our side that is the Guantanamo detainee situation.
The ACLU is planning a national protest for Friday, urging the closing of the prison at Gitmo.
A rally is scheduled for noon in Raleigh.
Like the larger Iraq question, the Gitmo situation vexes me greatly.
On the surface it is repulsive to see our government treating human beings in ways that conjure up Goodwin's Law.
It is frightening to imagine the expansion of tactics used by the government on enemy combatants at Gitmo to potential political enemies at home. (Sedition Act of 1918, anyone.)
But they are enemy combatants.
I think what troubles me the most is Dick Cheney and GWB's arrogant bunker mentality when it comes to taking a big ol' poo on the tradition of constitutional restraint of executive branch power.
I jus' *Can't Truss It*
The ACLU is planning a national protest for Friday, urging the closing of the prison at Gitmo.
A rally is scheduled for noon in Raleigh.
Like the larger Iraq question, the Gitmo situation vexes me greatly.
On the surface it is repulsive to see our government treating human beings in ways that conjure up Goodwin's Law.
It is frightening to imagine the expansion of tactics used by the government on enemy combatants at Gitmo to potential political enemies at home. (Sedition Act of 1918, anyone.)
But they are enemy combatants.
I think what troubles me the most is Dick Cheney and GWB's arrogant bunker mentality when it comes to taking a big ol' poo on the tradition of constitutional restraint of executive branch power.
I jus' *Can't Truss It*
Sean Hannity abandons female aide to Ron Paul mob
I check out the KOS from time to time, even more so since Fec made his first foray into the field.
So I watched with delight a video of Ron Paul supporters chasing Sean Hannity down the street chanting *Fox News sucks* as Hannity beat a line for the sanctuary of a hotel door, leaving a blonde woman fighting a rear guard skirmish.
Pitiful, Sean. Really.
So I watched with delight a video of Ron Paul supporters chasing Sean Hannity down the street chanting *Fox News sucks* as Hannity beat a line for the sanctuary of a hotel door, leaving a blonde woman fighting a rear guard skirmish.
Pitiful, Sean. Really.
January 07, 2008
Obama lead climbs to double digits in Zogby's NH poll
It's amazing to me to watch Obama's numbers rise so dramatically.
Just last week HRC had a 4 point lead in the Zobgy New Hampshire poll and about a 6 point lead in the RCP NH average.
John Zogby said on CSPAn today that Obama would trend into the 40s while HRC would continue to slip.
It's historic to watch this happen.
I have reservations about his Iraq pullout plan. I'm just divided, as is most of the country, on the issue of Iraq. It does seem we have turned a corner and I believe success in Iraq would be a great thing for the country and the world. But can democracy flourish in that part of the world?
No one can predict the answer.
Just last week HRC had a 4 point lead in the Zobgy New Hampshire poll and about a 6 point lead in the RCP NH average.
John Zogby said on CSPAn today that Obama would trend into the 40s while HRC would continue to slip.
It's historic to watch this happen.
I have reservations about his Iraq pullout plan. I'm just divided, as is most of the country, on the issue of Iraq. It does seem we have turned a corner and I believe success in Iraq would be a great thing for the country and the world. But can democracy flourish in that part of the world?
No one can predict the answer.
GOP slouches toward "a mass deportation albatross"
Victor Davis Hanson gets it:
*Rounding up several million (8-9 perhaps of the 11-15 here) won't be easy. I can just imagine some 60-year-olds in my home town, still at work in landscaping after 40 years, who have never been arrested, own homes, and haven't a clue what Oaxaca looks like after 40 years, suddenly put on a bus back there. So while it is easy to say, "I oppose amnesty in all its forms," note apparently how difficult it is for the candidates to make the next intellectually honest and logical corollary, "Thus I am for the mass deportation of all illegal aliens."
It is fine and good to talk of "attrition" by slowly and incrementally rounding up illegal aliens as they come in contact with government agencies and need various licenses, papers, statements, etc., but you are still talking about deporting millions, who are currently working and crime-free, rather promptly. The odd thing is that should illegal immigration cease at the border, the pool of illegals here, properly screened, would become static, and not be replenished, and, if the past is any guide, within a generation melt into the American pot.*
*Rounding up several million (8-9 perhaps of the 11-15 here) won't be easy. I can just imagine some 60-year-olds in my home town, still at work in landscaping after 40 years, who have never been arrested, own homes, and haven't a clue what Oaxaca looks like after 40 years, suddenly put on a bus back there. So while it is easy to say, "I oppose amnesty in all its forms," note apparently how difficult it is for the candidates to make the next intellectually honest and logical corollary, "Thus I am for the mass deportation of all illegal aliens."
It is fine and good to talk of "attrition" by slowly and incrementally rounding up illegal aliens as they come in contact with government agencies and need various licenses, papers, statements, etc., but you are still talking about deporting millions, who are currently working and crime-free, rather promptly. The odd thing is that should illegal immigration cease at the border, the pool of illegals here, properly screened, would become static, and not be replenished, and, if the past is any guide, within a generation melt into the American pot.*
January 04, 2008
Huckabee's record of achievement
As with Obama, I believe firmly that most Americans would do well to explore the candidates directly as opposed to taking the noise machine's word for it.
Huckabee appears to have an impressive record of public service.
Find out for yourself.
This tidbit alone is interesting:
*As former chairman of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, Huckabee worked with the 37-state coalition to develop energy policy and lobby Congress on energy matters, such as the regulation of oil and gas production. He also is known nationally for his focus on technology in state government. He created an automobile license renewal system that’s become a model for states across the country. Huckabee directed the creation of other advancements that have made Arkansas a technology leader among the states.*
How about this:
*Huckabee first was elected lieutenant governor in a 1993 special election and was elected to a full four-year term in 1994. He was only the fourth Republican to be elected to statewide office since Reconstruction.*
He also says that Katrina showed "a meltdown of government at all levels" and was "a national outrage, and rightfully so."
I agree with that.
A simpleton? Music ain't that simple.
*Huckabee, 51, enjoys playing bass guitar in his rock-n-roll band, Capitol Offense, which has opened for artists such as Willie Nelson and the Charlie Daniels Band, and has played the House of Blues in New Orleans, the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO and for two presidential inauguration balls.*
Updated: Byron York on how Huck did it.
January 03, 2008
Obama gets his people to the caucus
Second random precinct in Des Moines:
156 Obama
89 Clinton
73 Edwards
56 Richardson
Updated:
WaPo:
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) appears to have secured victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, a stunning affirmation of his message of change and a stinging setback to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) -- the long time national frontrunner.
Chris Matthews: "Voters are saying to the slick crowd "No Mas" in reference to rejecting Clinton and Romney in Iowa.
MEG stock continues to tank
As Media General stock falls below 1992 levels, closing today at 17.15, as opposed to a 52-week high of 43 and more than 70 in 2005, this comment was seen and heard on the MEG message board at Yahoo finance concerning who was driving the sell off:
*It could be Harbert Management Corp, Gabelli, who knows. One thing is for sure. Media General Management has really upset someone. They have denied everyone that is not on the inside a board seat. These funds own the biggest majority of MEG class A shares. The little bit of class B the management owns holds all the voting rights for the board.
When will Media General management wake up??????????????
Do they even care that their long time employees and shareholders are losing everything? I don't think so.
They are hell bent to do whatever they damn well please. They don't appear to care if the stock hits $1.00 as long as they have absolute control of the board.
These assholes own it to the employees to do something to stop this freefall.
EARTH TO MEG MANAGEMENT. IS ANYONE THERE? harley_riding_dude*
Random Des Moines sampling shows Obama way ahead
Not too much to say yet, but in a random precinct in Des Moines, Obama has 186 to 112 for Edwards. HRC 80.
December 31, 2007
Two articles every Republican should read
What is the health of the party:
*The leftward tilt of independents has only been intensified by dismay about the war in Iraq and by Republican scandals. In 2006, independents nationwide voted Democratic by a margin of 57 percent to 39 percent.
These trends should give Democrats a striking political advantage over the next decade, and perhaps longer. This edge won't necessarily entail thumping, New Deal-style congressional majorities or certain victory in presidential elections. Presidents are chosen for their (presumed) character and leadership abilities, not just for their political program and party. So the United States may well have a Democratic Congress and a Republican president in 2009. But it isn't likely. Republicans, who grew fat and happy during Bush's first term, anticipating decades of rule, face some lean years ahead. *
Who is driving the bus:
*The disarray following a loss next year might well embolden the moderate forces to stage a comeback. But suppose the Republican nominee wins next November, a possibility that is not as far-fetched as it may seem, particularly if some development in the Middle East or a national security threat were used to scare voters. No matter what the polls say today, a campaign built around scaring Americans into thinking that the Democrat will not protect them is one that always stands a chance of working, especially if that Democrat is a black man or a woman. Should that happen, there is no credible reason to believe that the neocons, theocons, and anti-taxers will hold any less power in the new administration than they have in Bush's.*
*The leftward tilt of independents has only been intensified by dismay about the war in Iraq and by Republican scandals. In 2006, independents nationwide voted Democratic by a margin of 57 percent to 39 percent.
These trends should give Democrats a striking political advantage over the next decade, and perhaps longer. This edge won't necessarily entail thumping, New Deal-style congressional majorities or certain victory in presidential elections. Presidents are chosen for their (presumed) character and leadership abilities, not just for their political program and party. So the United States may well have a Democratic Congress and a Republican president in 2009. But it isn't likely. Republicans, who grew fat and happy during Bush's first term, anticipating decades of rule, face some lean years ahead. *
Who is driving the bus:
*The disarray following a loss next year might well embolden the moderate forces to stage a comeback. But suppose the Republican nominee wins next November, a possibility that is not as far-fetched as it may seem, particularly if some development in the Middle East or a national security threat were used to scare voters. No matter what the polls say today, a campaign built around scaring Americans into thinking that the Democrat will not protect them is one that always stands a chance of working, especially if that Democrat is a black man or a woman. Should that happen, there is no credible reason to believe that the neocons, theocons, and anti-taxers will hold any less power in the new administration than they have in Bush's.*
All eyes on Bloomberg
Moderately independent politicians are examining the possibility of forming a third party:
WaPo:
*Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles S. Robb (Va.) and David L. Boren (Okla.), and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican organizers include Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, former senator John Danforth (Mo.) and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.*
More independent activity.
WaPo:
*Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles S. Robb (Va.) and David L. Boren (Okla.), and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican organizers include Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, former senator John Danforth (Mo.) and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.*
More independent activity.
December 29, 2007
Our intelligence failures contribute to growing Qaeda presence in Pakistan
NYT provides an intricate look at the network of Arab and Pakastani militants banding together under al Qaeda. The Pakastani government is blaming this growing network for the assassination of Bhutto last week.
But as part of that story, this alarming tidbit sprang forth:
*Barely two years ago Mr. Mehsud, 32, was just a Pashtun tribesman who did not register on the radar screen of the intelligence services or government officials. He is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan in the 1990s, when he trained and fought with the Taliban, according to one Pakistani intelligence official.
He became a follower of Abdullah Mehsud, the one-legged commander who was captured when fighting with the Taliban in 2001 in Afghanistan and detained by the United States at its military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Abdullah Mehsud was later released and took up the fight against American forces in Afghanistan from his home base in South Waziristan.*
Mehsud was reportedly killed in earlier this year by Pakistani security forces.
Now just who is running this War on Terrorism? Why did we spend millions of dollars and numerous American lives and limbs to capture this Abdullah Mehsud, transport him to Guantanamo and then release him back into the wild? Is this some kind of tag and release operation?
That doesn't make the least bit of strategic, let along tactical, sense.
If we catch the ring leaders we should kill them. Period.
Otherwise, we are just wasting our time.
I like the Colin Powell strategy the best:
"We're going to cut it off and then we are going to kill it."
I'm all for freedom and prosperity. I'm all for peace. But I think this weeks assassination reminded us what we are up against. I don't want the US government using that as a perpetual excuse. I want them to solve the problem.
More and more it seems the current administration is bumbling its way through some of the most dangerous and critical challenges our country has ever faced.
Terrorists aligned with bin Laden having access to Pakistan's nuclear weaponry is no joke.
But again, we need rational, achievable solutions to the problem, not tough talk and ineffable policy.
Paging Teddy Roosevelt.
But as part of that story, this alarming tidbit sprang forth:
*Barely two years ago Mr. Mehsud, 32, was just a Pashtun tribesman who did not register on the radar screen of the intelligence services or government officials. He is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan in the 1990s, when he trained and fought with the Taliban, according to one Pakistani intelligence official.
He became a follower of Abdullah Mehsud, the one-legged commander who was captured when fighting with the Taliban in 2001 in Afghanistan and detained by the United States at its military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Abdullah Mehsud was later released and took up the fight against American forces in Afghanistan from his home base in South Waziristan.*
Mehsud was reportedly killed in earlier this year by Pakistani security forces.
Now just who is running this War on Terrorism? Why did we spend millions of dollars and numerous American lives and limbs to capture this Abdullah Mehsud, transport him to Guantanamo and then release him back into the wild? Is this some kind of tag and release operation?
That doesn't make the least bit of strategic, let along tactical, sense.
If we catch the ring leaders we should kill them. Period.
Otherwise, we are just wasting our time.
I like the Colin Powell strategy the best:
"We're going to cut it off and then we are going to kill it."
I'm all for freedom and prosperity. I'm all for peace. But I think this weeks assassination reminded us what we are up against. I don't want the US government using that as a perpetual excuse. I want them to solve the problem.
More and more it seems the current administration is bumbling its way through some of the most dangerous and critical challenges our country has ever faced.
Terrorists aligned with bin Laden having access to Pakistan's nuclear weaponry is no joke.
But again, we need rational, achievable solutions to the problem, not tough talk and ineffable policy.
Paging Teddy Roosevelt.
December 21, 2007
*Leaders* deservedly recognized
Josh Marshall of Talking Point Memo fame announces the 2007 Golden Duke Award Nominations for generalized scandal, carnality and ridiculousness.
Larry Craig and Alberto Gonzales lead with nominations in multiple categories.
December 19, 2007
Huckabee ad brings out the best of the *long tail*
There is just something strange about the fact that a Christian running for president puts up a Merry Christmas video on youtube and it gets more than 6,000, mostly vulgar, comments in less than two days.
I firmly believe in freedom and freedom of speech above all. What value does morality have if it is not freely chosen?
But I think it is a sign of our sick culture that we live in an age where a great number of people believe it is decent for two men to marry each other, but to claim your belief in Christ's message gets you slammed with all types of vile.
Go figure.
Maybe the long tail needs to be hacked up with a +2 broadsword and sent to the abyss from time to time.
Ben Stein said it best.
May your merry bells keep ringing. Happy holidays to you.
I firmly believe in freedom and freedom of speech above all. What value does morality have if it is not freely chosen?
But I think it is a sign of our sick culture that we live in an age where a great number of people believe it is decent for two men to marry each other, but to claim your belief in Christ's message gets you slammed with all types of vile.
Go figure.
Maybe the long tail needs to be hacked up with a +2 broadsword and sent to the abyss from time to time.
Ben Stein said it best.
May your merry bells keep ringing. Happy holidays to you.
December 18, 2007
FCC overturns media ownership limitations
Despite the objections of Congress and most Americans, FCC Chairman Martin pushed through a loosening of media ownership rules today in a party line vote of FCC commissioners.
Not the end of the world, but par for the course for an administration that has thrown rationality to the wind to please giant corporate interests.
I'm sick of George Bush.
Watch this video to see what corporate media means for the First Amendment responsibility of the press.
Take action if you desire.
Not the end of the world, but par for the course for an administration that has thrown rationality to the wind to please giant corporate interests.
I'm sick of George Bush.
Watch this video to see what corporate media means for the First Amendment responsibility of the press.
Take action if you desire.
December 17, 2007
Who makes up the middle class?
A great discussion about what it means to be middle class these days:
*A lot of Democrats nowadays seem to suggest that “middle class” refers primarily to struggling families making $30,000 plus a year and backsliding into poverty — those families that the Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among Democratic class warriors, refers to as the “vanishing middle class.” (I always thought of these voters more as “working class,” another non-defined category.) And yet the group Third Way, which holds down the little-manned moderate wing of the party these days, did a study showing that a lot of middle-class families are actually earning a good deal more than they used to, if by “middle class” you mean working parents with college degrees. The median household income in America, which should be a useful guidepost here, is something like $48,000. But Third Way showed—convincingly, it seemed to me, though Warren attacked the methodology—that if you remove single teenagers and senior citizens from the equation (not the people we generally think of as “middle class families,” after all), the median income is actually about $20,000 higher than that.A great discussion about what it means to be middle class these days.
A lot of Democrats nowadays seem to suggest that “middle class” refers primarily to struggling families making $30,000 plus a year and backsliding into poverty — those families that the Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among Democratic class warriors, refers to as the “vanishing middle class.” (I always thought of these voters more as “working class,” another non-defined category.) And yet the group Third Way, which holds down the little-manned moderate wing of the party these days, did a study showing that a lot of middle-class families are actually earning a good deal more than they used to, if by “middle class” you mean working parents with college degrees. The median household income in America, which should be a useful guidepost here, is something like $48,000. But Third Way showed—convincingly, it seemed to me, though Warren attacked the methodology—that if you remove single teenagers and senior citizens from the equation (not the people we generally think of as “middle class families,” after all), the median income is actually about $20,000 higher than that.*
These two comments are telling of the new American divide:
*This is a great question. A family of four that has a combined income of $100K is definitely middle class. I am a 25-year-old single copywriter in new york making $75K a year and I define myself as middle class. Taxes and living expenses are so high that I’m lucky if i can save $1K a month. So what’s that, $12K a year - maybe i can afford a down payment on on aparment in 10 years, if i’m smart? Another day, another 30 cents, trying to eek out the American dream…
— Posted by shoz
You probably need to write for The New York Times or work for a tv network to begin to imagine asserting that the median family income is $68,000. Over 40% of American families earn between $70,000 and $94,000? Really? Have you been anywhere between the Jersey suburbs and California in the past decade? Have you looked around?
I know this is unimaginable for Times staffers, but there is a big country out there. Someone is balancing out those million dollar Manhattan payrolls and million-dollar Manhattan condos with $30,000 a year jobs and $150,000 houses to get to the quoted medians. And if Manhattan liberals think they will elect a President by pretending that they are “middle class” on $150,000 a year, they are leaving this nation to the Republicans once again.
— Posted by Ira *
December 16, 2007
Enforce the law, maintain national identity
Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, offers a thoughtful analysis of the immigration situation and puts forth five solutions:
*America's glue can be subverted by too much tolerance. Immigration advocates are too often guilty of an uncritical political correctness that avoids hard questions about national identity and imposes no obligations on immigrants. For these well-meaning idealists, there is no such thing as too much diversity.
The right thing for the United States to do -- and the best way to keep Americans in favor of immigration -- is to take national identity seriously while maintaining our heritage as a land of opportunity. U.S. immigration policy should be tolerant but also tough.*
*America's glue can be subverted by too much tolerance. Immigration advocates are too often guilty of an uncritical political correctness that avoids hard questions about national identity and imposes no obligations on immigrants. For these well-meaning idealists, there is no such thing as too much diversity.
The right thing for the United States to do -- and the best way to keep Americans in favor of immigration -- is to take national identity seriously while maintaining our heritage as a land of opportunity. U.S. immigration policy should be tolerant but also tough.*
Are we heading into a recession? Experts say yes and no
Six economists tackle the recession question in this NYT op-ed feature. The answers are mixed and very interesting.
December 13, 2007
Good article on religion's role in American governance
Is it possible to be a Christian and in favor of secular government?
Roger Cohen via NYT:
*Thomas Jefferson saw those words as “building a wall of separation between church and state.” So, much later, did John F. Kennedy, who in a speech predating Romney’s by 47 years, declared: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”
The absolute has proved porous. The U.S. culture wars have produced what David Campbell of Notre Dame University called: “the injection of religion into politics in a very overt way.”
Much too overt for Europeans, whose alarm at George W. Bush’s presidency has been fed by his allusions to divine guidance — “the hand of a just and faithful God” in shaping events, or his trust in “the ways of Providence.”*
December 12, 2007
Who pays the price for your Christmas cheer?
Wal-Mart investigating Chinese supplier of Christmas ornaments for paying teen workers an average of 49 cents per hour.
WWJD?
*The National Labor Committee — citing interviews, wage records and cellphone pictures smuggled out by teenage workers — said that the employees were being paid at less than Guangzhou’s legal minimum of 55 cents per hour and are being forced to work excessive amounts of overtime. Workers were paid by a piecemeal basis, according to the committee, with some earning as little as 26 cents per hour. The wage records, which were from a 10-day period from June 21 to 30 of this year, show a median wage of 49 cents per hour. By law, the employees should have been earning a median of 68 cents per hour because of overtime regulations.*
WWJD?
*The National Labor Committee — citing interviews, wage records and cellphone pictures smuggled out by teenage workers — said that the employees were being paid at less than Guangzhou’s legal minimum of 55 cents per hour and are being forced to work excessive amounts of overtime. Workers were paid by a piecemeal basis, according to the committee, with some earning as little as 26 cents per hour. The wage records, which were from a 10-day period from June 21 to 30 of this year, show a median wage of 49 cents per hour. By law, the employees should have been earning a median of 68 cents per hour because of overtime regulations.*
December 04, 2007
HRC joins W on the *lost their minds* list
WaPo:
*"There's a big difference between our courage and our convictions, what we believe and what we're willing to fight for," Clinton told reporters here. She said voters in Iowa will have a choice "between someone who talks the talk, and somebody who's walked the walk."
Asked directly whether she intended to raise questions about Obama's character, she replied: "It's beginning to look a lot like that." *
She must be joking. What walk has she walked, besides playing the anti-Tammy Wynette on 60 Miuntes in early 1992. Experience as First Lady doesn't count. And btw, Obama has been elected to office more times than she has.
At the federal level they are both first-term senators.
Experience is a draw, Hillary. Try again.
Sam's right. She's gone nuts.
Dan Balz nails it:
*Character issues appear to be Clinton's weakness in Iowa, which may explain why she has shifted her attacks on Obama to the subject of his character. She scored better than Obama or Edwards on measures of experience, strength, electability and knowledge of the world. But she was seen by Iowa Democrats as the most negative, the most ego-driven and ran behind Edwards and Obama on who was the most likable and who was the most principled.
The Clinton campaign may have had no choice but to step up the attacks on Obama, but she is gambling against a backlash among Iowa voters over her negativity. Given that they already see her as the most negative in the field, perhaps that is a small risk. But in a three-way contest, the candidate who is seen as turning the most negative often pays the highest price.*
HRC to American school children: *Don't dare dream*
December 03, 2007
Intelligence report contradicts administration's words (again)
WTF? Somebody's not telling the truth.
NYT:
*A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.*
NYT:
*A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.*
Biden gets it
*Delaware Sen. Joe Biden passionately declared Sunday that the key solution to illegal immigration begins with Mexican government officials who must expand their economies to provide good jobs for those living south of the border.
"They're being irresponsible. This is the second-wealthiest nation in the hemisphere - we're not talking about Sierra Leone," the Democratic presidential candidate said. "This is a dysfunctional society."
Biden said that illegal immigration will continue, no matter how high the border fence.*