Saturday, April 09, 2011
All Spending Is Good Spending
At least from the perspective of the economy and unemployment. This isn't true in normal times, but we are not in normal times. If we can't act think of anything better to do with the money, we should be paying people to dig holes and other people to fill them up again. Or, perhaps, in more modern terms, pay people to build freedom bombs and other people to conduct controlled explosions of them. There are better or worse ways to spend money, but it still the case that if you cut spending on basically anything it will be a drag on the economy.
Since Nobody Else Is Saying It
The way to reduce the deficit is to increase the number of jobs.
And, yes, I know, nobody actually cares about the deficit.
And, yes, I know, nobody actually cares about the deficit.
Late Night Conspiracy Unmasking
Hey, remember how two, three years ago Wall Street shysters got trillions in taxpayer cash so that the nation's economy would only crater and not violently explode? And remember how then the bastards who did it were let off without even a warning not to do it again?
Who even suspected, in those innocent days, Goldman Sachs was all along just fronting for the real crooks -- namely, teachers' unions?
Thank God we are finally holding Adult Conversations about the Economy. I mean, damn, otherwise our leaders might just do something self-serving, shortsighted, and stupid.
Dodged a bullet there!
MAS. Well, mas.
(You do sort of have to admire the party discipline here -- the boss has a tear-stained pink tie, cripes, what will you come up with... hallelujah, a watermelon cravat!
For fuck's sake.)
Who even suspected, in those innocent days, Goldman Sachs was all along just fronting for the real crooks -- namely, teachers' unions?
Thank God we are finally holding Adult Conversations about the Economy. I mean, damn, otherwise our leaders might just do something self-serving, shortsighted, and stupid.
Dodged a bullet there!
MAS. Well, mas.
(You do sort of have to admire the party discipline here -- the boss has a tear-stained pink tie, cripes, what will you come up with... hallelujah, a watermelon cravat!
For fuck's sake.)
Friday, April 08, 2011
Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded
Amtrak on the NE corridor at least has really become too pricey. It's ok if you buy tickets sufficiently in advance, but otherwise...
Wee Suggestion
Perhaps learn Russian before coming the Queen of All Russia?
or at least French.
"There may be some truth in that," Black says, all but admitting that for a manager like her, with no professional experience in education, heading America's largest public school system was above her capabilities. "It was like having to learn Russian in a weekend -- and then give speeches in Russian and speak Russian in budget committee and City Council meetings."
or at least French.
Stay Classy, Rusty
So awesome.
LIMBAUGH: You are very, very shrewd. You are exactly right. There's absolutely - we've got Obamacare out there. There's no way any of these alle -- it was like Jesse Jackson says, this is a return to the Civil War. Have you heard that?
I have a - Theo, thanks for the call. If the troops are not paid by their commander in chief - I have a question. If the troops still engage in battle, if they go to war and execute the orders issued by their commanders, if the troops are thus not paid by their commander in chief, are they his slaves? What would you call it? Can those serving in the military just walk off the job? I don't think so. So if Obama does not sign the bill to pay his troops, then it sounds sort of like forced labor to me. I mean, it's one thing, folks - and we can all agree on this - it's one thing to have to pick cotton. But to be forced to risk your life overseas without being paid, that's the worst kind of forced labor to me. Are you kidding me? How can the president of the United States, on the eve of the anniversary of the Civil War, the 150th anniversary, threaten to withhold payment to Americans who not only risk their lives for their country but are required by law to serve or face court martial after they volunteered. I believe desertion in wartime is still a capital offense. But if these wars are just kinetic military operations, maybe an unpaid warrior who walks off the job only gets jail time. Because we're not at war, the regime won't say so. These are just military actions.
But I think the Reverend Jackson might want to rethink his Civil War analogy. I mean, it's getting ludicrous. Eleanor Holmes Norton claiming this is the same thing as bombing innocent civilians. Jesse Jackson says the government shutdown would be a return to the Civil War. If the president refuses to fund the troops, if the commander in chief refuses to pay the troops - and congressman Jim Moran in Virginia tells a voter who wants to know why the troops aren't being paid to shut up and sit down, and if these guys expect these troops to stay on the job, it sure sounds like Obama has more in common with President Jefferson Davis than he does with President Lincoln.
Lies And The Lying Liars
On the Senate floor John Kyl just lied to America and informed us all that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion.
This, you know, isn't true, but whatevs.
This, you know, isn't true, but whatevs.
Snap!
The relationship between Jersey yahoos and their hero Springsteen is always pretty funny due to his politics.
In 2004 I went to the Springsteen and friends MoveOn concert. There were two guys in front of me, obviously tremendous fans, belting out all the lyrics and air guitaring their way through every song. But it was obvious they'd made a deal that once Bruce started on the evil liberal politics stuff they'd protest. So at some point during the show Bruce made a very milquetoast nod to the politics and they folded their arms and turned their backs through the next song. Born to Run.
In 2004 I went to the Springsteen and friends MoveOn concert. There were two guys in front of me, obviously tremendous fans, belting out all the lyrics and air guitaring their way through every song. But it was obvious they'd made a deal that once Bruce started on the evil liberal politics stuff they'd protest. So at some point during the show Bruce made a very milquetoast nod to the politics and they folded their arms and turned their backs through the next song. Born to Run.
Actual Adults
At least my urban hellhole rulers understand that public health issues require a public response.
It's 2011, I shouldn't still be pleasantly surprised by this stuff. I think the country as a whole has become a bit smarter about sex, but our elite discourse about it has regressed quite a bit.
It's 2011, I shouldn't still be pleasantly surprised by this stuff. I think the country as a whole has become a bit smarter about sex, but our elite discourse about it has regressed quite a bit.
What It's All About Then
The internets are telling me the Republicans are going to shut down the government because they don't believe there should be any health care for lady parts.
Nancy
It's not just Krugman, although he's posted a pretty thorough debunking of Ryan's "budget" "proposal"--even putting a version into today's dead tree edition. This is not a real proposal; Ryan admits in his interview with Jay Newton-Small that this budget cannot pass.
So what this "voodoo economics, with an extra dose of fantasy, and a large helping of mean-spiritedness" [Krugman] is really intended to be is an iteration of Bush's SS privatization plan--meant to have Mark Halperin et al force the Democrats to concede the principle that Medicare must be gutted, and then shift the discussion to one over the numerical details: the means test, the vouchers' value, and the allowable rate of increase of the vouchers. And do keep in mind that there is much sympathy among the Democratic elite for this approach, of moving seniors onto the insurance exchanges. Oh, and to permanently take taxing the top income decile off the table.
But, remember Speaker Pelosi. Atrios reminds us that her response to W's SS privatization gambit was simple.
"Never. Is that good for you?"
As E.D. Kain points out, same here. There's no need to respond to this claptrap.
But let's be fair: There's no way this plan passes the Senate.
No, but let's say Conrad passes a budget...
But you'd be miles apart...
Yeah, yeah. You've got a good read on the situation.
So what this "voodoo economics, with an extra dose of fantasy, and a large helping of mean-spiritedness" [Krugman] is really intended to be is an iteration of Bush's SS privatization plan--meant to have Mark Halperin et al force the Democrats to concede the principle that Medicare must be gutted, and then shift the discussion to one over the numerical details: the means test, the vouchers' value, and the allowable rate of increase of the vouchers. And do keep in mind that there is much sympathy among the Democratic elite for this approach, of moving seniors onto the insurance exchanges. Oh, and to permanently take taxing the top income decile off the table.
But, remember Speaker Pelosi. Atrios reminds us that her response to W's SS privatization gambit was simple.
"Never. Is that good for you?"
As E.D. Kain points out, same here. There's no need to respond to this claptrap.
A lot of people are saying things like “The ball is in Obama’s court” and what-have-you. The problem is that the ball has never really left the Republican court. Until Republicans agree to tax increases, why should Democrats agree to spending cuts? Why should Democrats take Republicans seriously at all if Republicans are completely unwilling to repeal the Bush tax cuts?
No, the ball is still in the GOP’s court. When they come up with a serious proposal – when they realize that politics is the art of compromise – then we can say the ball is in Obama and the Democrats’ court. Until then, well, the math doesn’t work.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Silly Krugman
All serious people agree: Paul Ryan is very serious.
The only way he could be more serious is if he held up a vial of baby powder of mass destruction.
The only way he could be more serious is if he held up a vial of baby powder of mass destruction.
What Have You Done For Us Lately
I don't think that politics is completely transactional, but it is somewhat, and in thinking about the wee problem with older voters it's wrong, I think, to see that it's all about various generational issues. Republicans gave them a prescription drug program. It wasn't a program loved by liberals for various reasons, but it still provides seniors with some drug coverage.
They Don't Care
I'm reasonably sure that there are many Republicans in Congress who want a government shutdown, and many more who just don't give a shit. The real question is...what's next? I doubt they know. Or care.
Markers
Out there in America there are still people on their recliners getting enraged that Crayola has acknowledged the existence of multiple skin colors.
No Endgame
I was never quite sure, but certainly suspected all along that a shutdown was inevitable. This is a "we must destroy the country to save it" crew, and they're going to do their best.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Early Evening Thread
Hopefully we investigate the New Black Panther Party's involvement in the Wisconsin election fraud.
Winning The Present
Don't know about recall recount issues, but for now congratulations to Kloppenburg.
Differentiate
I would hope that other Dems would step back and let Pelosi lead the messaging on this stuff. Though that's not likely.
Bye Glenny
What has too often been left out of coverage of Beck is that strong pressure on advertisers by various involved groups likely had a big impact on his eventual leaving, and certainly a big impact on the amount of money flowing into Fox's coffers.
Urban Hellhole Blogging
The big change since I've been living in Philly has been the revitalization of residential neighborhoods outside of Center City, so much so that proximity to Center City is much less of an issue for people moving here.
These are real estate agents talking their book, and I'd hardly describe Graduate Hospital as "fringe" anymore, but it's definitely the case that the number of places I'd recommend as a good place to live in the city has grown quite a lot. It isn't just perception of crime and similar, it's that retail corridors have come back to life in more places, providing people access to things in their neighborhood.
“For my buyers, walkability is almost equal to price as the most important criterion,” says Stephanie Somers, a Realtor at RE/MAX Access who focuses on Center City’s “fringe neighborhoods,” like Fishtown and Graduate Hospital. She lists Walk Scores for all the properties on her website.
“Being close to Center City comes up less often now,” she says. “The focus is more neighborhood-centric — people want to come home and be social right in their [area].”
These are real estate agents talking their book, and I'd hardly describe Graduate Hospital as "fringe" anymore, but it's definitely the case that the number of places I'd recommend as a good place to live in the city has grown quite a lot. It isn't just perception of crime and similar, it's that retail corridors have come back to life in more places, providing people access to things in their neighborhood.
And John McCain Reallly Wants Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Yes, kudos to Coburn for actually admitting taxes might have to increase, but in practice I doubt there's a tax hike he'd actually support, at least not one directed at rich people.
They're All Preening
Well, to put it more bluntly, they're all lying. "Deficit hawks" don't care about the deficit. They care about lowering taxes for rich people. So none of them are going to be for raising taxes on rich people.
Improving Healthy Food Deserts
Improving access to decent food for people in poor neighborhoods is a good thing.
Nothing To See Here
Move along folks.
(Reuters) - The core at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has melted through the reactor pressure vessel, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey told a hearing on the nuclear disaster on Wednesday.
Cars Are Expensive
It was until my visit to a thirdworldish country without much decent mass transit that I really understood how absurd it is to build a world where most people, in order to have access to decent jobs and the economy generally, have to purchase and surround themselves in a couple of thousand pounds of metal in order to get around. Sure in a more prosperous country this is a reasonable thing to ask of more people, but it still leaves plenty of people out. Cars are very expensive. And, no, roads don't pay for themselves.
The Debate Rages On
I've never known for sure of the various Lords of Slate, such as Weisberg and Saletan, are stupid or evil, though I guess I'm finally coming to the conclusion that one doesn't have to choose. Weisberg is clearly stupid and evil!
Win win everyone.
Win win everyone.
One Thing I've Learned
Is that it really isn't worth expending any effort to defend people and organizations who won't defend themselves. I've walked out on that branch a few times only to have it chopped off.
The Brave And The Bold
I'm not one who imagines there was some golden yesteryear of the press, but I do think that once upon a time a proposal to transfer money from the middle class to the rich and to impoverish any old person who got sick would have been treated with some skepticism.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Iraq'd
I don't really care about the journalism angle of all of this, but nice to know a 'Saudi general' instantly tried to pin the Oklahoma City bombing on Iraq.
Teabagging For Obamacare
Why precisely healthcare reform animated the teabaggers is a big mystery, one I'm sure mystifies most of them, but someone should explain to them that, roughly, Ryan wants to replace Medicare with a crappier version of Obamacare.
The Battle
Yes, the Great Social Security War of aught five was indeed our finest moment. Then the greatest concern was that Dems would get suckered into putting up their own 'plan' to solve the 'crisis.' The press demanded it! Even though, you might remember, the Bush administration didn't actually release a plan until the thing was basically dead. The worry wasn't simply that the Republicans might be able to ram it through, the worry was that Dems would enable and co-own a very unpopular, expensive, and likely to be ultimately disastrous policy.
But one thing was different then, though we didn't know it right away. We had Nancy Pelosi, and her response when asked about when the Dem plan was going to be revealed was:
Bloggers understood both the issues and the political dynamic much better than most people in DC seemed to. But we had an ally who fortunately did too.
But one thing was different then, though we didn't know it right away. We had Nancy Pelosi, and her response when asked about when the Dem plan was going to be revealed was:
Never. Is never good enough for you?
Bloggers understood both the issues and the political dynamic much better than most people in DC seemed to. But we had an ally who fortunately did too.
And A Pony
Hey, if it'll get unemployment down to 4% I'm all for it.
...actually, it's even better. A UNICORN PONY. Heritage (.pdf) says Ryan plan will cause unemployment to go all the way to 2.8% in 2021. Which, you know, won't happen.
An analysis performed by the Heritage Foundation at Ryan’s request found the unemployment rate would be reduced to 4 percent in 2015 by Ryan’s budget, an incredibly low number when many economists believe the economy will not return to so-called “full employment” of about 5 percent until years after that.of course it won't.
...actually, it's even better. A UNICORN PONY. Heritage (.pdf) says Ryan plan will cause unemployment to go all the way to 2.8% in 2021. Which, you know, won't happen.
And Another Reminder
To any eventheliberals who get tempted by deficit cutting talk because, well, because. Paul Ryan doesn't care about the deficit. Republicans don't care about the deficit. They care about tax cuts for rich people, and some of them are also feudal sadists who want poor people to suffer. But mostly they care about tax cuts for rich people. That's it. Any deficit cutting, real or imagined, is there to pave the way for even more tax cuts for rich people.
Repeating Myself
For some reason only crazy liberal bloggers watching political campaign ads on the teevee in their basements noticed that GOP candidates' only semi-substantive issue in the last election was an attack on Obama Medicare cuts. And they went hard on it. And old people freaked.
Wrong Week To Quit Sniffing Glue
Looking forward to a week of the press actually or pretending to not understand the most brilliant document ever created in the history of mankind, the Paul Ryan budget.
Monday, April 04, 2011
In Their Hearts
I don't know who this was, but the truth is a lot of elected Dems do ultimately share the basic belief that there's something courageous about sticking it to your constituents.
How Large Is The Federal Beer Tax
I didn't know, though had a memory of it being raised under the reign of George I. The internet tells me it was doubled, and is now $18 per 31 gallon barrel. What was interesting to me was that smaller producers catch a break, and only pay $7 per barrel. I wonder which influential senator with a craft brewery constituency slipped that one in there. Breaks for the little guys usually don't happen.
Governor Mittens
I'm sure he won't, but I still think the best chance Mittens has is to run as a right of center technocrat and hope that after flirting with the crazy the Sensible Republicans vote for him in the primaries after all. It might not work, but nor will the Multiple Choice Mitt act.
Walk
NAR is hardly a tool of liberal urbanites, but I still remain a bit skeptical that the results of this survey. Or, at least, I don't think there are simply enough options for walkable neighborhoods in most areas, and little chance for turning neighborhoods into walkable ones. Often the best people can hope for often are isolated islands of development, where walking is somewhat possible within but there's no connective tissue to other areas. There's just too much car infrastructure in the way.
Foreign Aid
Every now and then a poll comes out which shows that people think we spend eleventy zillion dollars on foreign aid, and all right thinking people laugh at how stupid Americans are. But I'm reasonably sure most people see our global military presence - somewhat correctly, somewhat not - as "foreign aid". And is this not how we're advertising our freedom bomb expenditures in Libya?
The Revolution Will Be Blogged
Despite the lack of teevee cameras, Wisconsin activists are doing their thing and doing it well. Kudos.
Invisible Lefties
The disparity in media coverage between what right wingers get anywhere anytime and what lefties have received over the past decade is so huge that when I reach for reasons I tend to get more paranoid about news organizations than I usually am. It's hard not to see it as a deliberate decision from the top. Ignore the protesting hippies.
Cartel Smash
I'm in the "pay the damn players already" camp, especially for football players who face non-trivial risk of life-altering injuries, but I'm actually curious if there is a business opportunity to set up a professional club league in basketball to try to compete with the NCAA. College sports are hugely popular in some parts of the country, but not everywhere, and maybe a little financial competition for good players is what is needed.
How They Won
Yes the economy sucked and there was almost inevitably going to be some Dem backlash. But, otherwise, they won with ads like this.
Denis Leary's America
Compassionate conservatism was always bullshit, but it reflected a time when people felt the need to be somewhat convinced that they gave a shit, that supporting cuts in vital social programs wouldn't really cause mass suffering because THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT. People were still assholes, but they weren't entirely comfortable embracing that.
Oh well.
Unserious
Yes Paul Ryan is a wingnut so it's to be expected, but anyone "serious," as Alice Rivlin is supposed to be, who thinks you can give vouchers to old people so that they can buy awesome insurance on the open market is someone who should never be listened to about anything ever again. All actual serious people should shun her.
Waiting For The Opposition
Cuts won't hurt the Republicans unless someone else points out that the cuts are, you know, bad.
Do You Remember When You Couldn't Put It Away
I think I'm too old to be nostalgic for stuff that is so recent.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Nothing To See Here Folks
Just barely resisting temptation to post a picture of blinky.
Experts estimate that about 7 tons an hour of radioactive water is escaping the pit. Safety officials have said that the water, which appears to be coming from the damaged No. 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi, contains one million Becquerels per liter of iodine 131, or about 10,000 times levels normally found in water at a nuclear facility.
Foot Stamping
Righteous sound and fury on a blog sadly isn't the best way to achieve anything, but as we are once again faced with a likely bipartisan effort to dismantle the best of the New Deal Legacy we do need to find a way to communicate the message that any Dem who participates this a) will face a well-funded primary challenger and b) lose their next election regardless as their Republican opponent will run against them as defenders of all such things. It'll be an easy trick to sucker Dems into supporting their agenda and then pin the whole thing on Obama Democrats.
All Rather Depressing
One would hope that when Republicans, who ran on opposing Obama's Medicare cuts, propose to destroy Medicare, a political party with an ounce of self-preservation instinct would figure out how to win the messaging war, but...
The Teabaggers Wanted To Keep Government Out Of Their Medicare
Looks like they'll get their wish.
No word if that private health insurance will be required to provide mobility scooters.
Their Medicare proposal would allow those nearing eligibility to remain with the current system, and it would create a program that would provide payments to Medicare enrollees to buy private health insurance.
No word if that private health insurance will be required to provide mobility scooters.
Nothing To See Here
Starting to think they have no idea what they are doing.
Workers tried Sunday to block the leakage of highly radioactive water into the sea from the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant by injecting polymeric water absorbent that can soak up 50 times its volume, but the water flow remains unaffected, the government's nuclear safety agency said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, meanwhile, told a press conference that it could take several months before radiation stops leaking from the plant, suggesting a lengthy battle ahead to resolve the crisis triggered by the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami.
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