tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36029612012-01-22T12:11:47.754-05:00paved with good intentionsJWnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-13599121142374068342012-01-06T11:21:00.003-05:002012-01-06T11:35:09.080-05:00

Reading through a great list of "The Most Terrible Things Rick Santorum Has Ever Said" on TNR, I came across this gem-Santorum, responding to the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision approving same sex marriage:“This is an issue just like 9/11. We didn't decide we wanted to fight the war on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when? When the supreme courts in all

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-51073798003657291412012-01-06T11:03:00.004-05:002012-01-06T11:05:34.435-05:00

Slate's David Weigel, in NH, talking to a NH voter:Over 24 hours, I watched Santorum, Huntsman, and Gingrich sell themselves to NewHampshire voters. It wasn’t fair. Winning (or almost winning) one of the earlystates makes a candidate Serious. In Tilton, I stop into a pizza place nearSantorum’s event and meet Joe DiBiase, a nice guy with a Bluetooth headset whohas just heard the Gospel of Santorum

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-22574651032132531502011-07-27T10:04:00.002-04:002011-07-27T10:08:28.615-04:00

Somalia's new ban on samosas because the triangle shape is "too Christian" and hence incompatible with their strict version of Islam shows in a nutshell why autocratic theocracy is a really stupid form of government.

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-49306283833509571942011-01-12T12:06:00.002-05:002011-01-12T12:20:00.571-05:00

As has been widely reported already today, in a video posted to her facebook page, Sarah Palin used the term "blood libel" to refer to criticism of her previous speech:“Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. Especially within hoursof a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a bloodlibel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they

JWnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-72734441076824303772010-10-24T22:46:00.006-04:002010-10-24T23:34:41.302-04:00

Charles Murray writes a piece this weekend in the Washington Post that, pushes the Tea Party line that modern elites are totally out of touch with "mainstream America."Taken individually, members of the New Elite are isolated from mainstream America as a result of lifestyle choices that are nobody's business but their own. But add them all up, and they mean that the New Elite lives in a world

JWnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-26576679882713989352010-08-17T10:41:00.001-04:002010-08-17T10:41:59.476-04:00

I'm on vacation in the Sonoma Valley and did some wine tasting and vineyard touring yesterday. One of the interesting things we learned from the guide was that, depending on rain levels, an entire crop of grapes may have to be harvested in just one or two nights (yes, nights- for reasons having to do with keeping the grapes from getting crushed in the baskets, they're harvested at night when

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-46291425235150702612010-08-10T11:44:00.003-04:002010-08-10T11:49:34.668-04:00

A group opposing the Cordoba House just won permission from the New York MTA to place ads opposing the project on busses citywide.The ads — which are scheduled to be printed and posted on city buses within ten days — feature an image of an “airplane headed toward the burning World Trade Center” next to a building that’s labeled as “WTC Mega Mosque” and the words “Why There?”It's nice to know that

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-54286913588236841572010-08-07T13:01:00.001-04:002010-08-07T13:01:10.085-04:00

I just got a new droid x and installed the mobile blogging software and I'm trying it out. Hopefully it will make it easier to post more frequently since I'll be able to post on the go.Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-1283594101684297882010-08-04T21:45:00.003-04:002010-08-04T22:25:21.720-04:00

I have not yet read the whole of Judge Walker's decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, but the concluding paragraph is pretty powerful:Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-29142460091002649232010-07-29T14:37:00.003-04:002010-07-29T15:05:34.890-04:00

Further to my earlier post on Atul Gawande's article about the fraught nature of end-of-life decisions and the importance of thinking and talking about them frankly and early... it turns out that Sarah Palin's death panels lie not only scotched the provision in the healthcare bill that would have reimbursed doctors for having these conversations with seniors, but it also leads a third of seniors

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-73940130284439480782010-07-29T10:51:00.002-04:002010-07-29T10:53:21.510-04:00

If you follow Glenn's advice and buy gold from Goldline, you're getting so badly ripped off that gold would have to nearly triple in price just to make back your investment. The Big Picture explains here

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-10789229312694830032010-07-27T23:38:00.004-04:002010-07-28T00:11:36.685-04:00

The New York Times reports that:four senators this spring refused to approve a $425 million package of federal grants for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America after staff members looked at the organization’s tax forms as part of a routine vetting process and were surprised to learn that the organization paid its chief executive almost $1 million in 2008 — $510,774 in salary and bonus and $477,817 in

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-23410245800255517152010-07-27T20:03:00.002-04:002010-07-27T20:19:32.152-04:00

A heartbreaking, long, but incredibly important piece by Atul Gawande in the New Yorker (here) on how our current medical system excels at fighting disease but critically fails at helping terminal patients decide when to focus on improving the days they have left.The simple view is that medicine exists to fight death and disease, and that is, of course, its most basic task. Death is the enemy.

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-56033165243342203222010-07-23T14:20:00.002-04:002010-07-23T14:55:55.557-04:00

Economist Tyler Cowen, writing about the US national debt, makes the following point-At some sufficiently high debt-gdp ratio, it becomes a foreign policy issue and a big one. Postwar UK had a high debt to gdp ratio, and to this day it is a fine place, but that debt meant the end of England as a world power, for better or worse. The U.S. for instance used financial issues to push England around

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-30668466360838564492010-07-23T10:16:00.002-04:002010-07-23T10:24:34.901-04:00

Given current polling, there's a significant possibility that the Republicans will take over at least one house of congress (with the House much more likely than the senate). Today from leading conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, and conservative celebrity/congresswoman Michelle Bachman, we get an idea of what they might do if given the reins:The Heritage Foundation has a new

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-53416115261364776802010-07-22T14:08:00.002-04:002010-07-22T14:22:18.549-04:00

I have periodically questioned, on this blog and in conversations, what kind of concrete benefits the US gets from its relationship with Israel. By concrete benefits I mean outside of those that stem from historic, cultural or religious similarities - ie, why is Israel the top recipient of US foreign aid, and why do we care more about their policy preferences than we do about those of similarly

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-21598461977606764892010-07-22T10:47:00.002-04:002010-07-22T11:05:33.188-04:00

Following on Sarah Palin tweet that "peace loving Muslims" should "refudiate" plans to build a moderate mosque and cultural outreach center in lower Manhattan (not actually on the ground zero site, or even across the street, or frankly even viewable from ground zero) because of course Muslims = terrorists, perennial presidential wannabe Newt Gingrich has also voiced his opposition to this, and

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-9737307149491352362010-07-21T18:57:00.002-04:002010-07-21T19:13:53.710-04:00

Apologies to my readers for the lack of posts lately, I had a sort of crisis in confidence in blogging which I'll hopefully be able to articulate in a later post.In the meantime, a great article by Jonathan Rausch that looks at family patterns in red states and blue states (like the fact that single-parent families, earlier pregnancies, rates of divorce, etc. are much higher in red states), and

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-43850331098768962682010-05-21T11:52:00.002-04:002010-05-21T11:57:06.672-04:00

Earlier this week, GOP Senate nominee for Kentucky Rand Paul stated on Rachel Maddow's show that he does not support the 1964 Civil Rights Act because he doesn't believe that the government has the constitutional authority to tell businesses that they can't discriminate. Paul says he's not a racist, and I'll take him at his word, but Time magazine notes:Paul has lately said he would not leave

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-24262628865822046542010-05-17T18:27:00.004-04:002010-05-17T19:39:30.126-04:00

A friend writes regarding my post this past weekend on Miranda rights and terror suspects. My response is interwoven with his comments: I disagree with your Miranda post. As a preliminary matter, you vastly underestimate the degree to which injecting a lawyer into an interrogation changes its dynamics. First, a lawyer's first instruction to his or her client--even if the lawyer plans to advise

JWnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-83306720676035120892010-05-15T14:44:00.002-04:002010-05-15T15:09:36.084-04:00

I don't really understand the reasoning behind AG Holder's suggestion that there need to be exceptions to the Miranda regime for terror suspects:“We’re now dealing with international terrorists,” he said, “and I think that we have to think about perhaps modifying the rules that interrogators have and somehow coming up with something that is flexible and is more consistent with the threat that we

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-87295295267521294642010-05-15T14:07:00.003-04:002010-05-15T14:32:11.251-04:00

Apparently, in Florida, Flag Football has appeared as a competitive, varsity girl's highschool sport, with five thousand girls playing statewide on 75 teams. One would think that "women's sports experts" would applaud the fact that schools are providing another avenue for students to exercise and bridge one of the few remaining gender divides in sports.Not so.Various "experts" quoted in the

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-58142710294342112502010-05-11T11:35:00.001-04:002010-05-11T11:37:17.300-04:00

Bryan Caplan suggests separating prisoners (who are already separated by gender) into "weight classes" in order to minimize prison rape.

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-6551117525793566132010-05-10T17:10:00.003-04:002010-05-10T17:22:15.245-04:00

Building on the earlier post today, this kind of thing drives me nuts-While complaining about Elena Kagan's decision to deny access to military JAG recruiters at Harvard Law School (because the military violates Harvard's anti-discrimination policy for employers), Ed Whelan of National Review Online says this:At a time of war, in the face of the grand civilizational challenge that radical Islam

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-14183000093849568842010-05-07T16:25:00.003-04:002010-05-10T17:04:46.939-04:00

Joe Lieberman and Scott Brown are forging ahead with their "Terrorist Expatriation Act":The Terrorist Expatriation Act, co-sponsored by Senators Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, would allow the State Department to revoke the citizenship of people who provide support to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or who attack the United States or

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-70812654301518056292010-05-05T10:18:00.002-04:002010-05-05T10:35:04.864-04:00

Following the attempted car-bombing in Times Square (a few blocks from where I work), despite the fact that law enforcement tracked down and arrested the guy within two days, and he's already confessed, you have the predictable overreacting freakout by the right.As happened with the underpants bomber in December, the freakout has centered around what a terrible idea it was for the police to read

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-40284724754369194172010-05-03T21:25:00.003-04:002010-05-03T21:43:29.733-04:00

Two GOP candidates for congress (Ron Kirkland and Randy Smith) explain at a tea party forum how they handled the issue when they were in the military:Kirkland, a Vietnam veteran, said of his time in the military: “I can tell you if there were any homosexuals in that group, they were taken care of in ways I can’t describe to you.”Smith, who served in the first Iraqi war, added: “I definitely

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-16535473924819229402010-04-28T11:59:00.003-04:002010-04-28T12:01:17.729-04:00

From Will's new column defending Arizona's draconian "demand papers from anybody who doesn't look like George Will" law:Non-Hispanic Arizonans of all sorts live congenially with all sorts of persons of Hispanic descent. These include some whose ancestors got to Arizona before statehood -- some even before it was a territory. They were in America before most Americans' ancestors arrived. Arizonans

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-51352951298543182252010-04-27T17:55:00.004-04:002010-04-27T18:04:59.470-04:00

Just a thought, but with Greek debt being downgraded today to "junk" status, maybe it would make sense for them to cut their military spending. Greece right now has 177,000 active duty soldiers (4.2% of its population, or more than triple the per capita numbers for the US). Greece also spends 4.3% of its GDP on its military - 25th in the world, and ahead of the US, and way higher than other

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-485017178172180832010-04-27T17:12:00.004-04:002010-04-27T17:31:10.371-04:00

Today's Times has an article on efforts by NYC Schools Chancellor Klein's efforts to remove seniority protections for teachers, and end "last hired, first fired." I have a lot of sympathy for this effort. While there are a lot of great senior teachers (my dad for instance, who put in consistent effort over 30 years teaching elementary school), I'm not sure that seniority is a great predictor for

JWnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-68636399325707530412010-04-22T13:46:00.001-04:002010-04-22T13:48:13.369-04:00

There has to be some way for the government to not let this happen:Mostly, though, Wall Street is making money by taking advantage of its rock-bottom cost of capital, provided courtesy of the Federal Reserve — now that the big Wall Street firms are all bank holding companies — and then turning around and lending it at much higher rates. The easiest and most profitable risk-adjusted trade

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-21239733760352946632010-04-22T10:33:00.003-04:002010-04-22T13:45:35.570-04:00

This kind of "pox on both your houses" thing drives me nuts:Independents and Democrats at the Cocoa Beach Pier on Wednesday were more welcoming. They said an outsider candidacy by Mr. Crist might give Floridians a way to protest partisan politics. “People are upset with the whole system, and we need more than two parties,” said David Steranko, 39, a registered independent and Internet marketer of

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-73386341125092219432010-04-21T11:38:00.003-04:002010-04-21T12:39:13.204-04:00

Looking back over this site's traffic for the past couple months, it's pretty clear that some of the most popular posts have been where I've answered questions that readers have about complicated things happening in the political world.A lot of what passes for news about politics really lacks any explanation of the issues - the writers are more interested in talking about the controversy than

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-30496335071477127632010-04-20T13:56:00.003-04:002010-04-21T11:38:43.153-04:00

The GOP (primarily Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) has been making the ridiculous argument that Chris Dodd's financial regulation bill will lead to "endless bailouts" of the banking industry. A couple things should lead you to believe that this is not the case.1) The financial industry is fighting tooth and nail against the bill. Banks like being bailed out, and they particularly like it

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-59201592814368877352010-04-15T12:16:00.004-04:002010-04-15T13:25:45.447-04:00

Ahh, April 15th, the best day of the year for well-off people to complain about how many taxes they pay and how nobody else is paying them. This year, the Center for Tax Policy has obliged by providing a study stating that 47% of Americans pay no income tax. That number has given rise to a great deal of indignant commentary, like this from CNN's Scott Hodge:If "taxes are the price we pay for

JWnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-12741903727527198302010-04-12T11:58:00.002-04:002010-04-12T12:05:10.984-04:00

NY Magazine reports that New York subways were targets of a coordinated terrorist attack broken up by law enforcement:Zazi and his two Queens friends allegedly planned to strap explosives to their bodies and split up, heading for the Grand Central and Times Square stations - the two busiest subway stations in New York City.They would board trains on the 1, 2, 3 and 6 lines at rush hour and

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-49975646746767934192010-04-11T11:47:00.002-04:002010-04-11T11:50:17.951-04:00

The Times ran an interesting editorial today on the selective memory of neo-Confederates:If neo-Confederates are interested in history, let’s talk history. Since Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Confederate symbols have tended to be more about white resistance to black advances than about commemoration. In the 1880s and 1890s, after fighting Reconstruction with terrorism and after the Supreme Court

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-10254510442058818382010-04-09T16:33:00.002-04:002010-04-09T16:46:24.366-04:00

As we're coming up on the summer blockbuster season (and it's a Friday afternoon), here are three differing and very interesting views of last summer's "The Dark Knight" as an allegory for the war on terror:Ian Keegan (here) sees shades of hard-core Zarqawi's rise to power within al Qaeda in the Joker's takeover of Gotham's gangs, and notes the Joker's use of the cheap tools of asymetric warfare.

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-37826138075845011772010-04-09T10:19:00.003-04:002010-04-09T10:30:28.675-04:00

After Obama signed the arms reduction treaty with Russia, which would reduce nuclear stockpiles in each country from around 2200 warheads to about 1500 (and also would thaw the Bush era neo-cold war with the Kremlin), Palin gave her typically nuanced take on the treaty:You know that's kinda like getting out there on the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight and one of the kids saying 'Go

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-28939011027026085272010-04-08T17:01:00.002-04:002010-04-08T17:03:50.430-04:00

Paul Krugman has an absolutely critical, must-read piece (here) on the economics of fighting global warming. It's long, but anyone who wants to have a handle on what appears to be the critical issue of our generation, should read it.

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-25098347338379070292010-04-07T20:19:00.002-04:002010-04-07T20:55:29.431-04:00

After taking heat (from this blog as well as many other commentators) about his slavery-free Confederate History Month, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell apologized and amended his proclamation to include a fairer treatment of the underlying cause of secession and the Civil War.WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-35739887641040945932010-04-07T12:41:00.003-04:002010-04-07T12:52:34.769-04:00

Alleged moderate Virginia Republican Governor Bob McDonnell has reinstated April as "Confederate History Month" in the great Commonwealth of VA, after it had been abandoned by his two Democratic predecessors. According to the governor's proclamation, April was chosen because it was the month that Virginia decided to abandon the United States and join the Confederate States of America. The

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-4642761005932612502010-04-06T19:16:00.006-04:002010-04-07T09:04:16.495-04:00

Newsweek's cover story on the iPad (which pairs nicely with its back cover advertisement for the same product) declares that the iPad will "revolutionize reading, watching, computing, gaming and silicon valley." I admit that I have not yet handled the messiah-gadget (although as an inveterate gadgeteer I've read many reviews of it), but I think that, as usual for Apple products, the praise is way

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-39870355655796837732010-04-06T13:45:00.003-04:002010-04-06T14:13:27.738-04:00

As part of the general political climate where it's important for politicians never to be seen doing anything remotely nice to undocumented immigrants, the recent healthcare reform act excluded them entirely from its provisions. Now, I understand the argument of not wanting to extend subsidies to UIs, particularly given that many of them participate in an underground economy and don't pay taxes

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-34587383723433928932010-04-01T16:03:00.000-04:002010-04-01T16:04:34.656-04:00

(via TNR):Investor's Business Daily's initial quote: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."Investor's Business Daily's subsequent correction:"This version corrects the original editorial which implied that physicist

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-35987685505788921032010-03-31T18:17:00.002-04:002010-03-31T18:24:09.486-04:00

Paragon on Flickr has uploaded an entertaining slideshow of misspelled Tea Party sinage (here). As somebody who once had to ^ in a missing "m" in my school project timeline that would otherwise have been titled "Iportant Events in the History of Communism," I understand that mistakes happen when you're making a poster. I see how you could write "Obama: Commander in Theif," or be against "Amensty"

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-79546714872599563232010-03-31T12:09:00.002-04:002010-03-31T12:12:06.263-04:00

Yesterday I went through some common questions on the new healthcare reform law. A friend emailed with a follow-up on one of yesterday's answers:One comment - while I'm generally supportive of the plan as first step in what will be a long road ahead, I can't help but be generally wary of "incentivized efficiency" in health care (your answer to question 1). In theory, the notion makes sense, but

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-78136732336740755732010-03-30T15:09:00.002-04:002010-03-30T15:12:42.768-04:00

A few weeks ago, I and other bloggers hassled the Senate Finance Committee for having an ancient website that looked like something put together by a 15 year old on Geocities in 1995, and for being "optimized for Netscape Navigator 4.x."I'm glad to say they've listened, and scooted around to put together a snazzy new site (http://finance.senate.gov/) that seems to work quite nicely with modern

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-40223416453345482002010-03-30T10:56:00.005-04:002010-03-30T14:39:26.857-04:00

A friend writes with five questions on the new healthcare reform law:first question: one of the criticisms i hear is that with the reduced premiums that medicare will be paying to hospitals for procedures, the cost will be pushed back on to hospitals, some of which may stop participating in the program. how is the funding gap made up by hospitals? why won't they jump ship?First off, any payment

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-38236782068671826102010-03-25T15:42:00.003-04:002010-03-25T15:53:41.957-04:00

What a week to go on vacation! I've been out of the country for the past week and a half on my much-delayed honeymoon, and the healthcare reform bill goes and gets itself passed. I'll be back posting once I get a handle on what's happened in my absence. In the meantime, a great quote from the NY Times:Many Democrats credited the president with having saved the legislation from the brink of

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-62791275211273865912010-03-05T10:01:00.002-05:002010-03-05T10:25:29.662-05:00

The Washington Post is reporting that Obama's advisors are going to recommend that he back down from AG Eric Holder's plan to try 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed in federal criminal court in New York. I'll be deeply disappointed in the Administration if they cave on this.KSM is not a warrior. He's not a soldier. He's scum, and a criminal, and should be treated as such. We used to think

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-3388505459952161142010-03-04T10:14:00.002-05:002010-03-04T10:53:04.327-05:00

In the US, we tend to think that more democracy is better - ie, it's better to have elected officials rather than appointed bureaucrats, because the people get to choose, and the people get to throw the bums out when necessary. It's an open question, however, whether voters are able or interested in figuring out who's a bum.Yesterday, Jonathan Bernstein wrote about his experience at the Texas

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-81579312758382034892010-03-03T14:43:00.004-05:002010-03-03T14:55:54.864-05:00

A friend writes -Not that Los Angeles city politics concern you, but the principles in this one are hysterically fucked up. Long-story short the LA City Council who have raised parking ticket rates and made parking meters run 24 hours including sundays, recently voted that all LA City Council members be EXEMPT from parking tickets. WHAAAAAAAAAA?????This doesn't surprise me- from what I recall,

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-63550156739609766992010-03-02T10:47:00.005-05:002010-03-02T11:07:07.521-05:00

Via Matt Yglesias, an entertaining reminder of just how old and out of touch the Senate generally is. The Senate Finance Committee's website contains a notice that the site is "optimized for Netscape Navigator 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x" - programs that were widely used in the mid-1990s. These days Navigator no longer exists, and IE is on to version 8. Of course, this kind of technological

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-2707738820490931742010-02-25T10:06:00.002-05:002010-02-25T10:18:29.955-05:00

Lest my readers think that I bash loony Republicans, I present to you a ridiculous rant by Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of Queens, who had his own rant yesterday - this one on the floor of the House of Representatives:Striding angrily to the mike, Weiner shouted: "You guys have chutzpah. The Republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of an insurance industry. That's the fact." Not ten

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-59891013272438907072010-02-23T11:25:00.003-05:002010-02-23T11:42:56.926-05:00

A friend writes, regarding yesterday's post on conservative homophobe Ryan Sorba:"considering most in the audience booed that dbag, it seems a bit of a stretch to label the entire party as such, doesn't it?"He definitely has a point (and one echoed by Megan McCardle in a good post today). I had initially watched this clip at work with the volume down, and didn't notice that it was booing (rather

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-25176836357772028132010-02-22T16:14:00.003-05:002010-02-22T16:28:36.236-05:00

For those of you not glued to CSPAN last week for coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference ("CPAC"), you missed a gem of a speech by junior-conservative Ryan Sorba. Sorba (who comes off as a combination of Jerry Falwell and a Jersey Shore reject) was apparently miffed that CPAC had allowed GOPride, a gay conservative group, to have a booth at the conference, and went on a lengthy

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-91947482354973432232010-02-22T10:18:00.002-05:002010-02-22T10:33:04.495-05:00

Dems have gotten used to dumping on Lieberman for things like backing McCain and doing his part to stall/kill healthcare reform in the senate - things that often make progressives (myself included) more annoyed with him than we are with the GOP.That said, props to Lieberman for introducing a bill in the Senate that would end Don't Ask Don't Tell. In an interview with the NY Daily News, Lieberman

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-4039189744370057592010-02-17T14:01:00.004-05:002010-02-18T11:37:54.295-05:00

Thinking more about last night's post on China and the Olympics, I started wondering about the relationship between a country's population, the size of its economy, it's per capita GDP (or roughly how rich people in the country are) and it's participation in the Olympics. To that end, I ran the numbers this morning, using World Bank numbers from wikipedia (and using PPP for per capita GDP) and

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-25170528590282211162010-02-16T23:07:00.003-05:002010-02-16T23:49:02.280-05:00

One of the interesting takeaways from watching the Winter Olympics is seeing the Chinese fielding teams in biathalon, cross country skiing, curling, women's ice skating, etc. which are not at all traditional sports in China. In this way, China is consciously acting like the US, Russia, France, Germany, etc. that regularly field big Olympic teams - in a word, like a global power.By contrast, the

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-77761544898514915462010-02-16T21:03:00.003-05:002010-02-16T21:21:32.198-05:00

Texas was one of the first states to have broadly written standards for language arts, science and social studies, which were copied by many other states. When coupled with the fact that Texas is the 2nd largest market for textbooks (after California, which has very specific standards that aren't used by other states), it makes the Texas State Board of Education the arbiter for what goes into

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-91156957911024719272010-02-16T16:11:00.002-05:002010-02-16T16:19:32.507-05:00

Bayh's departure from the Senate is allegedly because things are too partisan now and there's no room for pragmatic centrists like himself. That's utter crap.Take a look at the list of ways where the administration, and liberals/progressives, have compromised to cater to Bayh and his pals:Stimulus bill trimmed from $1.2 trillion to $800 billionHealthcare bill watered down - first from single

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-57078537259764604152010-02-15T22:36:00.003-05:002010-02-15T22:59:48.243-05:00

Evan Bayh today declared his plan to retire from the Senate. Explaining why he was retiring, Bayh said:“For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should,” he said. “There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress. Too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem solving.”Now, one could suggest that perhaps the lack of progress comes

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-18367262916606348262010-02-12T11:57:00.002-05:002010-02-12T13:55:24.349-05:00

I just got an email forwarded from my brother from the Wildlife Conservation Society:Governor Paterson has delivered a budget proposal that would slash funding for New York's zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums by almost 50 percent.If this attack on our living museums is approved, it would force devastating program cuts and layoffs. These facilities are vital to the science education of

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-70746726832049744012010-02-11T16:48:00.002-05:002010-02-11T16:52:10.614-05:00

A lot of people are worried by a rumor floating around that the healthcare reform bills would ban folks from paying for procedures not covered by their healthcare plans - like if your plan won't pay for an experimental treatment, but you would like to pay for it out of pocket.I've been meaning to write about how this isn't correct, but just read Ezra Klein's piece here:Let's begin with Medicare.

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-23380985451735409182010-02-08T16:58:00.002-05:002010-02-08T17:24:04.640-05:00

The NY Times has a great graphic here that's interactive and which I can't figure out how to get it into this post (so click on the link and check it out). It shows very clearly how little of the budget (only about 1/3 of total government expenditures) is actually controlled by the budgeting process. The rest - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the debt, etc. is all set by law (

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-70617045865334031272010-02-05T14:50:00.002-05:002010-02-05T15:23:39.611-05:00

As most of the people in the US aren't a.) economists or b.) freakishly addicted to political news, it's very understandable that they don't have a very clear idea of what the deficit is or how it works. As such, they often analogize the goverment's finances to their family finances, which seems like it would work but doesn't.In tough economic times oftentimes your hours or salary is cut or you

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-4363693680833738652010-02-04T23:16:00.004-05:002010-02-04T23:28:38.757-05:00

TPM reports that Alabama Senator Richard Shelby has put a hold on all of Obama's remaining executive branch nominations. That means that, under Senate rules, it will take 60 votes for cloture in order to get an up-or-down vote on confirmation. In practical terms, this means that the nation will go without:a head of food safety at the USDAthe head of the office of legal counsel for the

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-8301484102751908382010-02-03T15:48:00.003-05:002010-02-03T15:59:09.685-05:00

I've noticed a number of my facebook friends signing on to the group "Making Drug Tests Required to Get Welfare" (here). The group now has 1.3 million fans.So here's my question on this- welfare these days really only goes to people with kids. Say a single mom with two kids is on welfare, but is also an addict. So you take welfare away from the family. That means (if you're referring to

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-72689890532558706052010-02-03T14:23:00.003-05:002010-02-03T14:44:49.267-05:00

The Federal Court Judge to shoebomber Richard Reid during Reid's sentencing hearing, wherein he was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 consecutive years, a $2 million fine (and $5,478 in restitution to American Airlines):This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and a just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of any of

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-47273333859876318402010-02-03T13:47:00.002-05:002010-02-03T14:06:29.609-05:00

Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan has come out with a detailed, real plan for healthcare reform, that (according to the CBO score) would actually drastically curtail healthcare cost growth (details here). The downside is that it looks like it would do so on the backs of some of America's most vulnerable - seniors and lower income folks. The main part of the plan would essentially privatize

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-84452878144933205132010-02-02T14:53:00.003-05:002010-02-02T15:07:39.789-05:00

Polling outfit Research 2000 has a startling poll of Republicans out today (which was commissioned by liberal site Daily Kos) that's pretty depressing for anyone hoping to find common ground:-36% believe Obama was not born in the US, and 22% are unsure-only 43% said no to the question "do you believe Obama wants the terrorists to win?"-53 to 14% believe that Palin is more qualified to be

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-47272100894757222932010-02-01T18:21:00.003-05:002010-02-01T18:50:51.062-05:00

James Fallows writes:I got this note from someone with many decades' experience in national politics, about a discussion between two Congressmen over details of the stimulus bill:"GOP member: 'I'd like this in the bill.'"Dem member response: 'If we put it in, will you vote for the bill?'"GOP member: 'You know I can't vote for the bill.'"Dem member: 'Then why should we put it in the bill?'In most

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-45706068713364561992010-01-29T17:40:00.003-05:002010-01-29T17:49:26.519-05:00

During both his 2000 and 2008 campaigns, John McCain had a minor proposal that I thought would be fantastic - that the President should, every week, address the Congress in the manner of the British Prime Minister's Questions. This was derided as a gimmick (and after watching McCain in the debates would have been disastrous for him to pursue). Today, Obama ventured into the House GOP's retreat

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-53018806067532088542010-01-29T10:28:00.002-05:002010-01-29T10:39:01.739-05:00

Capitol maintenance workers should check the wiring on the voting buttons for GOP senators, I think they're stuck on "no." Yesterday the Senate voted to reinstate the "pay-as-you-go" or pay-go rules for budgeting, under which any new expenditures have to be paid for either by increasing tax revenues or cutting something else - so basically you can't borrow and spend. The rules were in place from

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-56378620477922910662010-01-28T14:39:00.003-05:002010-01-28T14:51:40.042-05:00

The blogs are abuzz this morning with video of Justice Samuel Alito mouthing "not true" after Obama's swipe at the Supreme Court over the recent Citizens United decision that overturned decades of campaign finance law.Obama's speech:It’s time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office. With all due deference to separation of powers, last week

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-87027617814037973002010-01-28T11:02:00.002-05:002010-01-28T11:07:33.482-05:00

The Times reports: Even before the conference started, President Karzai said in a BBC interview that it could take 5 to 10 years for Afghan forces to take over from the American-led coalition fighting the Taliban and even longer — 10 to 15 years — to end his country’s dependence on financial aid to sustain its military.So let me get this straight... Afghan forces are supported by the US, which

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-60607730583904166112010-01-27T23:54:00.004-05:002010-01-28T00:12:32.180-05:00

A lot of stuff, and a lot of good stuff in tonight's speech, which I'm sure will be dissected all over the media for the next few days. My off-the-cuff take:The tone was great- Obama came across as above the fray, successfully chiding the squabbling congress (specifically the Senate) and even going after the Supreme Court's recent campaign finance decision. I think he looked loose, comfortable

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-65682052975582777282010-01-27T14:25:00.003-05:002010-01-27T15:07:19.002-05:00

A common complaint by folks on all points of the political spectrum is that "we don't make stuff in America anymore, people just sit in offices shuffling papers around." It turns out that this is in fact just not true, as you can see from the chart below, which shows that, except for periodic recession-related dips, industrial production in the US has grown at a pretty steady clip and is

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-65822701893246837062010-01-25T22:48:00.004-05:002010-01-26T14:45:41.164-05:00

A relatively minor, but important point:The deficit is the annual gap between money received by the government and money spent by the government. For instance, say the federal government brings in $1.5 trillion in tax revenue in 2010, but spends $1.8 trillion. The deficit, or gap between income and expenditure, is $.3 trillion (or $300 billion). The national debt is the accumulation of each

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-89906023688696086012010-01-25T15:43:00.003-05:002010-01-25T17:52:59.040-05:00

At a local political meeting last week, a number of Upper West Side Dems were complaining about the failures of the Obama administration to "get anything done," and that all that's been accomplished is bailing out the greedy bad guys at big banks.Not only only does this kind of talk back up GOP talking points and demoralize progressives, it's also flat wrong. The public, many Dems included, have

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-33814146614781526762010-01-21T14:08:00.002-05:002010-01-21T14:19:26.230-05:00

Matt Yglesias has a very good post on the underlying problem with Obama's attempt t governing so far:What I’ve come up with is that neither of these are really the crucial game. What’s been missing from Obama’s approach is what, for lack of a pithy name, I’ll call “objective political pressure.” One of the striking things about the Obama presidency is that throughout his time in office not a

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-87709389037770894102010-01-21T10:59:00.004-05:002010-01-21T11:08:46.830-05:00

Anthony Wiener this morning on CNN said that the Dems should "hit the reset button" on healthcare and go back to the drawing board because "Somewhere in all of the machinations here, in all of the insider deals" to get to 60 votes, they've "walked away from some of those popular things" in the bill, such as restoring "choice and competition with the public option."Apparently Wiener has much

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-58322770694461722472010-01-20T20:09:00.003-05:002010-01-20T20:37:21.088-05:00

Every wavering Democrat (and all the obstructing Republicans) need to be hammered again and again with this message: right now Congress has the power to pass a healthcare reform bill that will cover almost every American. Because they have the ability to pass it, if they don't (because they're afraid, or bought off, or think it's a political advantage not to pass it) it will be their fault that

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-28912866351613496412010-01-19T22:14:00.004-05:002010-01-19T22:31:18.528-05:00

I think that, in a couple of days or weeks or months, many of the Dems who voted for Scott Brown tonight are going to be kicking themselves. Don't get me wrong, Martha Coakley was an abysmal candidate, she had a ton of gaffes, didn't try very hard, and clearly condescended to the electorate. From what I've read, Brown was smart, energetic, compassionate, and reasonable. It was also a terrible

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-41439780888983447402010-01-19T21:36:00.004-05:002010-01-19T22:07:42.500-05:00

Even with the loss of the 60th vote in the Senate, the Dems have a couple possibilities to still pass the healthcare bill. One option is to try to work out a deal really quickly, before Scott Brown is seated - that's going to be a struggle, and passing the bill with an already-voted-out lame duck appointed Mass Senator is going to seem awfully illegitimate to a lot of people. Another option is

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-1633253743843209942010-01-14T10:31:00.007-05:002010-01-15T10:29:35.353-05:00

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Harold Ford Jr., as he's the guy who served as the example in a story by my buddy Pearl that taught me the etiquette of giving your drink on the rocks a couple swirls with the straw and then laying it on the bar (if I recall correctly, in the story Pearl took offense to Ford drinking a screwdriver through the straw at a bar in DC Memphis). Fuzzy

JWnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-44773723027488484382010-01-11T17:49:00.002-05:002010-01-11T18:21:49.244-05:00

I watched Avatar a week ago, and came away thinking it was a movie with great 3-D visuals and lousy 2-D characters - essentially a totally unserious roller-coaster kind of experience, not anything that anyone would take seriously. After looking at this article, which discusses "fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy

JWnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-62637817374461925722010-01-07T17:50:00.005-05:002010-01-07T18:26:35.876-05:00

I expect Senators and members of Congress to favor their states or districts - those are the people who elect them and they need to curry favor. That said, Ben Nelson takes this to a ridiculous extreme. On the section of his (federally funded) senate webpage labeled "Earmarks" (http://bennelson.senate.gov/for_nebraskans/earmarks/), Nelson states High-speed rail between the major US economic

JWnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-27872176066477670772009-12-30T14:24:00.002-05:002009-12-30T14:26:47.587-05:00

Rory Stewart, a journalist and candidate for parliament in Britain (whose book "The Places in Between," documenting his walking trip across Afghanistan in 2002-2003 is also a must-read) has the best discussion of Obama's Afghanistan strategy that I've read in this month's New York Review of Books. It's a bit lengthy, but for anyone who's looking to understand what's going on in Afghanistan,

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-26098906428286931782009-12-30T14:20:00.002-05:002009-12-30T14:24:38.794-05:00

In response to Adam's post below, I believe there's already technology that will do that, which you can put on an iPhone. You can hum, sing, whistle etc. a tune, and the app searches for it and gives you the name of the song. About a year ago, a couple friends and I cobbled together a pretty neat party game using it. One player calls out the name of a relatively well-known song, and then

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-55398441053126856772009-12-28T23:30:00.002-05:002009-12-28T23:41:47.621-05:00

I have an idea. After talking to a friend who works at a certain social networking company that shall remain nameless, I don't think I could ever make money on it, so I'm just throwing it out there to the universe. I hope someone who reads this can run with the idea and make the world a happier place, for a little while at least.I want there to be a website where that allows people to do two

Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15130509978857883010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-21169114587107898222009-12-18T10:52:00.003-05:002009-12-18T10:55:30.001-05:00

It's critical to remember that health care reform is not about scoring points or roughing up Lieberman or even "winning." It's about the chance to make life tangibly better for millions of Americans. Josh Marshall posts an email from one of them:If I feel abandoned, it's not by Obama and the Democratic party, it's by those on the left advocating to kill the bill. I am unemployed and have a

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-91215802879630236162009-12-17T19:15:00.002-05:002009-12-17T19:32:40.101-05:00

Megan McArdle has a great post about the realities of the bargaining situation for the healthcare bill that must be read by everybody who thinks that Obama, Reid, Pelosi etc. got rooked by the GOP and conservative dems in the negotiating process:Krugman, and the commenters, seem to imagine that negotiation is a process where you ask for huge concessions, and then bargain your way down to

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-73979985632562772762009-12-17T18:12:00.002-05:002009-12-17T18:33:36.066-05:00

At one point in college, I served on a joint student/faculty/administration counsel on student alcohol consumption (something my friends at the time thought was highly amusing), and one of the members was Barrett Seaman, a college trustee. Since that time, Seaman has written a book on college binge-drinking ("Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess") and has started a group

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-69817219699947246812009-12-16T10:58:00.002-05:002009-12-16T11:04:51.621-05:00

Rightwing squawker Laura Ingraham has her take on the classic holocaust poem "First they came..." -"First they came for the rich. And I did not speak out because I was not rich. Then they came for the property owners, and I did not speak out because I did not own property. Then they came for the right to bear arms, and I did not speak out because I was not armed. Then they came for me and denied

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-71269650591270213272009-12-15T15:07:00.003-05:002009-12-15T15:17:54.191-05:00

Howard Dean, for whom I generally have a lot of respect, today calls for liberals to unite to "kill the bill" - scrap the Senate healthcare reform bill and try again later by going back to the House for a new bill that would be easier to get through the Senate using budget reconciliation- and critically needing only 51 votes.The problems with this are numerous- There's a lot of chance that,

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-70511689044658179722009-12-04T10:11:00.004-05:002009-12-04T10:22:42.873-05:00

During this week's "debate" in the NY State Senate leading up to the 38-24 defeat of the marriage equality bill, there were a number of heart-wrenching statements by those in favor the bill, particularly Sens. Diane Savino and Ruth Hasswell-Thompson. On the "no" side, however, only Democratic Senator Reuben Diaz spoke, in a rambling statement largely complaining about how Dems had stabbed him in

JWnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-38651787513938080492009-12-01T11:01:00.002-05:002009-12-01T11:06:33.350-05:00

Last night I watched a pretty amazing interview on the Daily Show with journalist Maziar Bahari who was imprisoned by the Iranian regime for several months after he covered the protests this summer. One of the most amazing things Bahari said was that, despite the fact that the interrogators beat him, they tried to win him over by saying that what they were doing was not nearly as bad as what the

JWnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3602961.post-13756136003484048092009-11-19T13:58:00.004-05:002009-11-19T14:08:12.930-05:00

Doug Hoffman recently sent an email to his supporters, claming that the recent special election in NY-23 was "stolen," and blaming ACORN and the unions for "vote tampering."He specifically cites problems in Oswego County:A recanvassing in the 11-county district shows Owens' lead has narrowed to 3,026. In Oswego County, I was reported to lead by only 500 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted

JWnoreply@blogger.com1