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You gotta love this guy
2008-02-16 05:45:00
I'm talking about evangelical supply side cultist Larry Kudlow.No RecessionA number of economists on and off Wall Street are ringing the recession bell, as they have so many times in recent years. But the Goldilocks economy has proven to be more durable and resilient than her critics appreciate.Goldilocks dodged two potentially recessionary bullets this week. While modest gains in retail sales and industrial production suggest temporarily slower growth for the U.S. economy, these indicators are not signaling recession. In particular, Friday?s 0.1 percent production increase ? which comes to 2.4 percent at an annual rate over the past 3 months and 2.3 percent over the past 12 months ? removes the recession scenario. It?s slow growth, but it?s growth nonetheless.To get a true recession reading, the production index would have to fall for 4 to 6 months in a row. That?s not happening. Despite some monthly declines over the past half year, the production reading for January was 114.2 ? ...
More About: Economy , Love , Gotta

Shooting Stars
2008-02-16 00:40:00
When the US announced that it was going to try to blow up a disabled spy satellite I didn't believe for one minute that the safety reason given was legitimate. Well my thoughts have been confirmed.Experts Scoff at Sat Shoot-Down Rationale The Pentagon says it has to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite because of the threat of a toxic gas cloud. Space security experts are calling the rationale highly unlikely. "Having the US government spend millions of dollars to destroy a billion-dollar failure to save zero lives is comedic gold," one tells DANGER ROOM.Yesterday, Deputy National Security Advisor James Jeffrey said the satellite's tank full of hydrazine rocket propellant was the main reason the military was planning to blast the orbiter. There's a small but real risk that the hydrazine tank could rupture, releasing a "toxic gas" over a "populated area," causing a "risk to human life."But, as we noted yesterday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright cast ...
More About: Stars , Military , Pork , Shooting

The real hub of the "axis of evil"
2008-02-15 19:29:00
The hub of the Bush's axis of evil is not Iran, not even Pakistan. It's tyrannical regime of the Bush crime family's good friends the Saudis.BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince Saudi Arabia 's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.He was accused in yesterday's high court hearin...
More About: War On Terror , Evil , Real , Axis

The well is dry
2008-02-15 06:41:00
Paul Krugman explains that the current financial crisis just continues to spread. Today, we?re witnessing another kind of contagion, not so much across countries as across markets. Troubles that began a little over a year ago in an obscure corner of the financial system, BBB-minus subprime-mortgage-backed securities, have spread to corporate bonds, auto loans, credit cards and now ? the latest casualty ? student loans.Indeed, this week the state of Michigan suspended a major student-loan program because of the sudden collapse of another $300 billion market you?ve never heard of, the market for auction-rate securities.Why has a crisis that began with loans to a limited group of home buyers ended up disrupting so much of the financial system? Because, ultimately, it?s more than a subprime crisis; indeed, it?s more than a housing crisis. It?s a crisis of faith.He goes on to talk about the latest financial scheme to be infected, auction-rate securities. But the problem is much deeper an...
More About: Economy

Then and now!
2008-02-15 00:47:00
Last July I endorsed Hillary Clinton over at The Gun Toting Liberal. The major factor in my decision was that Hillary had the best chance of winning in November. I expanded on that in October. Since then I have become very disillusioned with the Hillary Clinton campaign and while I still am not a big fan Obama's campaign has impressed me. Without endorsing Obama I have been hinting that I had moved into the Obama camp for the last few weeks. At a time when the Democrats should be working on some unity the Clinton camp has gone very negative after a number of big wins by Obama. I must admit that Clinton fatigue may enter into my decision as well. Make no mistake, I don't expect much out of an Obama presidency - I suspect the best we can hope for is to quit going backwards.Over at The Left Coaster Steve Soto, who endorsed Hillary about the same time I did has come to similar conclusions. We are now being told by Team Clinton that she will not withdraw or concede, and plans to fight ...
More About: Barack Obama

Less than meets the eye?
2008-02-14 17:44:00
The administration and the wingers are all excited about the latest "success" in Iraq .Making (Some) Progress in Iraq Good news is rare in Iraq. But after months of bitter feuding, Iraq?s Parliament has finally approved a budget, outlined the scope of provincial powers, set an Oct. 1 date for provincial elections and voted a general amnesty for detainees.But what really happened? Juan Cole explains: Al-Zaman (The Times of Baghdad) reports in Arabic that there was not actually a vote, but rather the laws were passed as a package by consensus. The consensus reflected a political deal among the major parties rather than a recorded vote of a majority of the MPs. Al-Zaman calls the method of the vote "unconstitutional." (They are protesting the lack of a recorded individual voice vote; it may be they also object to the bundling of the three separate laws together, which made MPs vote up and down, yes or no). Many MPs had interests in some of the laws but opposed a third, and therefore had...

Emotion VS Reason
2008-02-14 16:16:00
Over at Orincus Sara Robinson explains that the Obama phenomenon is not a cult but: What's going on is that we've finally got a Democratic candidate who understands exactly how the Republicans did it. As I pointed out my very first week on this blog, the GOP didn't come to power by talking about plans and policies; they did it by using strongly emotional appeals that grabbed people by the gut and didn't let them go. Theirs was never a movement based on reason. It was, from the very beginning, a movement of hearts and souls. And it was that deep, emotionally sustaining commitment that drew people in so deeply that they were willing to give 25 years of their lives to bringing about the New World Order their leaders promised them. We may hate what they've accomplished -- but we're never going to be able to do better until we can inspire that same kind of passion for change.And Obama's doing just that. He's tapped into a deeply pressurized seam of repressed fury within the Ameri...
More About: Barack Obama , Reason , Emotion

The pandering maverick
2008-02-14 05:15:00
The Senate did the right thing today and passed the anti-water boarding bill. The Senate voted 51 to 45 on Wednesday afternoon to ban water boarding and other harsh interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency against high-level terrorism suspects.Senate Republicans generally opposed the bill, but several of them also did not want to cast a vote that could be construed as supporting torture, and so were relying on President Bush to make good on a threat to veto legislation limiting C.I.A. interrogation techniques.The prohibition of harsh interrogation techniques is part of a wider intelligence authorization bill and would restrict all American interrogators to techniques allowed in the Army Field Manual, which bars the use of physical force.The House approved the bill in December by a vote of 222 to 199, mostly along party lines. Wednesday?s vote in the Senate was also along party lines. All the ?no? votes were cast by Republicans, except for those of Senators Josep...
More About: Cain

State Of The Campaign
2008-02-14 00:45:00
This morning on Mid Stream Radio Jazz and I discussed the presidential campaign with the Reaction's Michael Stickings . Jerome Armstrong still thinks Hillary has a chance. Michael, Jazz and I agreed that while the race is not over it is looking less likely that Hillary can pull it off. She needs big wins in most of the remaining contests with is looking increasingly unlikely with Obama's momentum. That said, what does Obama have to do to win the general election? I think that all he has to do is not make any serious mistakes. When it comes to Iraq and aggressive foreign policy in general John McCain is indeed the "straight talk express." Unfortunately McCain's positions are not held by two thirds of the voters. I have thought all along that Iraq will once again be an issue in November. McClatchy reports that violence has been increasing since November. As many of us suspected the "success" of the surge was temporary. As I discussed yesterday McCain refuses to back down on Iraq an...
More About: Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Campaign , State

On the Radio Today
2008-02-13 15:57:00
Ron and I will be back on the air today on Mid Stream Radio at 1 pm eastern, 10 am pacific for the second part of our interview with Michael Stickings of The Reaction. He'll be talking about his decision to endorse Barack Obama, and given the Senator's continued streak of wins in yesterday's primaries (and Hillary Clintons rather odd reaction to the situation) I'm sure he'll have plenty to crow about.You can call in with your questions or comments during the show to (646) 595-3963. Or you can pull up a chair in our always lively web chat during the show to comment, submit questions, or just chat with the other listeners. Remember, if you want to comment in chat, you'll need to sign up ahead of time for a free user account at Blog Talk Radio and grab a nickname to use during the chats. BTR will never spam you, give out your e-mail adress to others, etc. but you can sign us up as one of your "favorites" to receive e-mail notifications before each of our shows go on the air.
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Bat Shit Crazy
2008-02-13 05:59:00
The other day I suggested that John McCain was trying to convince the criminally insane at CPAC that he is just as crazy as they are. Well via Think Progress we see that now he is trying to convince everyone else he is simply bat shit crazy.Speaking to reporters in Richmond, VA last night, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attacked ?anyone? who points out that he is ?fine? with keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 or more years. ?Anyone who worries about how long we?re in Iraq does not understand the military and does not understand war,? said McCain.He then added that it is ?really almost insulting to one?s intelligence? to question ?how long we?re in Iraq? because he believes the current ?strategy? is ?succeeding.?By dismissing as naïve those concerned with how long the U.S. military is mired in Iraq, McCain is claiming that top officials in the Pentagon don?t understand ?the military? or ?war? as well as he does. In a recent GOP presidential debate, McCain argued, ?I?m the expert? on Iraq.T...
More About: Crazy , Shit

Look who's talking
2008-02-12 19:02:00
In spite of the fact that I still think Obama is an empty suit I am leaning in his direction in large part because of Clinton fatigue. That said this article by Dean Barnett, Obama Unplugged, while in large part true is still absurd when one considers the source. Has Barnett listened to to George W. Bush over the last few years? While Obama may be better with a teleprompter he can still talk coherently without one. Barnett says: In spite of Obama's obvious strengths in this area, questions linger regarding Obama's gifted speechifying. Do his speeches give us a glimpse at a very special man with a unique vision? Or are we merely witnessing a political one-trick pony? Yes, Obama can turn a phrase better and do more with a Teleprompter than any other modern era politician. But does his special skill set here actually mean anything, or is it instead the political equivalent of a dog walking on its hind legs--unusual and riveting, but not especially significant? Regardless, the liberal...
More About: Barack Obama , George W Bush , Hypocrisy , Conservatives , Talking

This is the best they can do?
2008-02-12 05:18:00
My major concern about Obama has been what the Rovian Swiftboaters would do to him after he became the nominee. He has actually been giving them some ammo himself like his comments on drug use. Well I guess this is apparently the first day that the Rovians have Obama in their sights. Oh, my. Barack Obama may want to call his new Houston office and suggest some decorating ideas. Take a look at the flag flying in the office at the moment:No, that's not a Texas state flag with a picture of Obama on it. It's the flag of the Castro-led Cuba regime, with Che Guevara's face superimposed on the side. A Fox report from Houston captured this image as it showed Obama supporters celebrating his momentum after Super Tuesday.Does Obama know his Houston supporters honor a terrorist in his campaign office?If this is the best they can do then maybe I didn't need to worry so much. The politburo diktat 2.0 gets it right. Remember the ?vast right wing conspiracy?? I think this is the ?half vast? ve...
More About: Karl Rove , Wingnuts

Sunset
2008-02-12 04:57:00
As you can probably tell not much inspired me today. Mt. Hood at sunset from my backyard did.
More About: Pictures , Sunset

If I were a "super delegate"
2008-02-12 01:08:00
I explained my feelings about the byzantine primary election system below. I agree it's broken - some think it's the super delegates that are unDemocratic, others think it's the caucus system. I agree with both of them. So what would I take into consideration if I were one of the super delegates? (It should be understood that I am leaning towards Obama at this point.)This is what I would consider to make my decision: The popular vote in states that actually held a primary not a caucus.Who seems to have the most momentum at the time?Who has the lead in an average of national polls at the time?Who is most likely to be able to win in November?You will notice that I don't take actual delegate counts into the equation. I don't really consider the caucuses to be anymore "Democratic" than the super delegates themselves. Even in state with a primary there is no consistency in assigning delegates based on the popular vote.
More About: Democrats , Super

Mid Stream Radio
2008-02-11 17:40:00
Jazz and Ron will be on the air at 10 AM PST to discuss the latest. call in at 646-595-3963
More About: Radio , Stream

Are you going to let them play you like a fiddle?
2008-02-10 20:05:00
Must read from Dave Johnson at the Huffington Post! The Drudge Report is a right-wing site that is used to drive right-wing propaganda into the large, corporate media outlets. When a story is featured at the Drudge Report, you always have to ask why, and ask what is the right's intent behind getting this story into circulation.Today Drudge points us to a story, Wilder Still Sore Over Clinton Comment. This story is obviously an effort to drive a wedge between supporters of Senators Obama and Clinton. It uses out-of-context, incomplete quotes and mischaracterizes the intent and meaning of the quotes to drive up tensions.[....]Are you going to let them play you like a fiddle? Keep in mind who the enemy is here. The stakes are high: If we let the primary contest divide us how many hundred thousand Iraqis or Iranians will be killed before the 2012 elections, how much more will corporations take over our democracy, how much more concentration of wealth at the top will we see? Please do n...
More About: Democrats , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Play

Let's Fix the entire thing
2008-02-10 17:02:00
The current method of selecting a presidential candidate can at best be described as byzantine:Of, relating to, or characterized by intrigue; scheming or deviousHighly complicated; intricate and involvedDonna Brazile and Chris Bowers are concerned about uncommitted "super delegates". Others are concerned about the un Democratic caucus system where a very small percentage of the electorate makes the decision. Here the candidate with the most enthusiastic supporters is likely to win - not always the candidate with the most support. Even is states with a primary election byzantine methods of determining delegates can result in the candidate with the greatest popular vote receiving fewer delegates.Rather than attacking parts of the flawed system it's time to fix the entire system.Do away with the "super delegates"Do away with the caucus system and replace it with electionsAward delegates based on the state wide popular vote
More About: Elections , Entire , Thing , Tire

They are killing us
2008-02-09 18:42:00
No I'm not talking about al-Qaeda, I'm talking about US corporations and the Bush administration. The courts have once again said no to the Bush Administration EPA and their corporate friendly policies that are killing us.Court Rejects Emission 'Trades'EPA Effort to Limit Mercury Output Is Said to Ignore Law A federal appeals court yesterday threw out the Environment al Protection Agency's approach to limiting mercury emitted from power-plant smokestacks, saying the agency ignored laws and twisted logic when it imposed new standards that were favorable to plant owners.The ruling, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, was another judicial rejection of the Bush administration's pollution policies. It comes less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuked the administration and the EPA for refusing to regulate greenhouse gases.This court's critique -- which undid a controversial program to "trade" emissions of mercury, a potent neurotoxin -- was especiall...
More About: Economy , China , Killing

Iraq - McCain's Waterloo?
2008-02-09 16:46:00
This from Juan Cole Over two-thirds of Americans think that getting out of Iraq will help the US economy a great deal (48%) or at least somewhat (20%). Myself, I think that is the death knell of the Iraq War and spells very bad news for John McCain . McCain's argument is that if Iraq can be pacified, such that troops are not being killed, then there is no intrinsic objection to the US keeping bases there. But first of all, his premise is not evident, and the news of the troop deaths this week argues against complacency on that score. Besides, the public is noting an objection even in the case of no troop deaths, which is the extra expense.If the war really is going to cost $2 trillion, they can think of other ways they'd like to spend that money, including on unemployment checks for themselves since they are afraid they are about to be fired because of the recession. Hearteningly, even after decades of Republican propaganda about the miraculous properties of "tax cuts" (mainly on t...
More About: Economy , Waterloo

Grasping for relevance
2008-02-08 23:33:00
After Mitt left the race yesterday we should have had an office pool on who's head would explode first. Well AJStrata reports that the winner would have been the one who picked Sean Hannity. Apparently Rich Galen wrote a piece today and noted how conservatives tearing down McCain is basically doing the liberal media?s work for them. It is a fair if slightly exaggerated point to make, especially after years of the right tearing down El Presidente Jorge Bush for disagreeing with them.But something inside Hannity snapped over this and he was in the throws of insanity. He claimed those who question his actions are pompous, arrogant, hanger-ons who are simply trying to angle for jobs in the new administration and have sold their principles for money. And he was just getting started! The most hilarious (and pathetic) part came where he declared himself and other angry and raving talk show hosts the future of America! You could almost see him stand up and salute himself.Clearly Hannity an...
More About: Wingnuts , Vance

Today on Mid Stream Radio
2008-02-08 18:14:00
Ron and Jazz from Middle Earth Journal interview Michael Stickings of The Reaction and review the current state of the primary races, along with the Super Delegate Transparency Project.
More About: Radio , Today , Stream

John McCain's greatest sin
2008-02-08 16:07:00
The conservatives give specific reasons why they dislike John McCain - campaign finance, immigration and voting against tax cuts, but the real reason, McCain's ultimate sin is that he has never acknowledged their relevance or recognized their power. Last year he didn't even attend their CPAC love fest and although he did everything he could to prove he was just as crazy as they are this year he really didn't acknowledge or recognize them. David Brooks explained this a few weeks ago when he discussed the conservative support for serial flip flopper Mitt Romney: The leaders of the Republican coalition know Romney will lose. But some would rather remain in control of a party that loses than lose control of a party that wins.A McCain win in November would prove that the conservatives who have run both the country and the Republican party into the ground are indeed no longer relevant. Joe Conason makes the same point: Certainly there will be many elected officials, bureaucrats, office...
More About: Conservatives , Greatest

Somebody FINALLY talking about job outsourcing
2008-02-08 13:55:00
This just in from our good friend Pamela Leavey at The Democratic Daily. It seems that the Democratic contenders have begun at least whispering about doing something regarding corporations who continue to use "free trade" as a vehicle to gut the middle class of America, and Whoopi Goldberg (!?) was paying attention.Whoopi cited Clinton?s statement that she would end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Whoopi previously believed that Obama had made that pledge first, but apparently she was mistaken.Chalk one up for who was right first? It?s good to see some folks are paying to attention to what both of the candidates are saying and weighing things out. Apparently, watching the video, Whoopi wasn?t the only one on The View paying attention.(Note: You can watch the video for yourself at Pamela's web site.) For some observers, including Whoopi, this seems to be a matter of nuance. While I respect and appreciate Pamela's opinion, the question for me, though, is not so muc...
More About: Outsourcing , Talking , Finally

CPAC and McCain Part II
2008-02-08 01:08:00
Yesterday I had some advice for John McCain : The fact that he almost has the nomination in hand would seem to indicate that the CPAC crowd is not only irrelevant in the nation as a whole but even within the Republican Part y. If McCain panders too much it will damage his chances in November. You can bet that anything he says at CPAC will be part of a Democratic commercial in the general election. So what should McCain say? My recommendation would be: "What you see it what you get and if you would rather have a Democrat in the White House then continue to attack me."Well he didn't listen - text at RedState. The CPAC wingnuts have been ranting about how John McCain is just not crazy enough to be a real conservative. Well Sir John not only pandered to the crazies at CPAC he did everything he could to convince them he was just as bat shit crazy as they are. All this after Romney quit the race. Here are some snips that will come back to haunt him in the general election: They will offer ...

So Long Mittens
2008-02-07 19:56:00
Well It's now official - it's McCain VS the Democrats and the Conservatives.Romney suspends presidential campaign Mitt Romney suspended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, saying if he continued it would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win.""In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. This is not an easy decision. I hate to lose," the former Massachusetts governor said."If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country."Romney made the announcement Thursday afternoon at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.Romney had won 270 delegates in through the Super Tuesday contests, compared with front-runner John McCain's 680.Democratic c...
More About: Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Long

Excuse me!
2008-02-07 06:57:00
I don't understand this:Lieberman Has ?Superdelegate? Status Stripped Because of McCain Endorsement Lieberman's endorsement of Republican John McCain disqualifies him as a super-delegate to the Democratic National Convention under what is informally known as the Zell Miller rule, according to Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo.OK, I don't understand - wasn't the fact that Lieberman is no longer a Democrat enough to disqualify him?What am I missing here?
More About: Joe Lieberman , Excuse

CPAC and McCain
2008-02-07 00:31:00
Over at the WSJ June Kronholz talks about McCain and CPAC .Will McCain Make Nice to the Right? The next big hurdle for John McCain isn't the Feb. 12 primaries. It's his appearance tomorrow before the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, whose verdict on the Arizona senator could make or break his presidential aspirations.The 6,000 Republican Party members expected to attend "are the ground troops that make up the conservative base," says David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors the yearly meeting. "And he's pretty much blown his credibility with these people."CPAC has been an important stop on conservatives' calendars since Ronald Reagan showed up in 1973 for the first of 17 appearances. The three-day conference in Washington now draws thousands of people, more than half of them under age 26, who come to listen to the movement's stars and assess its presidential candidates.Last year, Sen. McCain was the only declared candidate to tu...
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Hat In Hand
2008-02-06 22:29:00
Government geologists, vulcanologists and relief workers have warned citizens in the immediate vicinity of Hugh Hewitt and Rush Limbaugh to evacuate the area to avoid blast damage when their heads expode following John McCain's sweeping victory in the Super Tuesday primaries. I suppose we knew it was coming, but Hugh Hewitt has come out and told his followers that they should get ready to support John McCain.At the same time, Romney and Huckabee ought to begin to note Senator McCain's lead and urge their followers to recognize that if they cannot come back they and their followers will have to come in and join the party's eventual nominee. Senator McCain would do well to make a similar statement though his lead is significant and his collapse unlikely. Putting Humpty Dumpty together again cannot wait for St. Paul. Each of the three need to strike some common chords again and again, beginning with why the GOP needs to retain the White House, regardless of who its nominee is.Th...
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Post Super Tuesday
2008-02-06 17:30:00
The battle for the Democratic nomination will continue but the two battles on the Republican side are all but over. Yes, there were two battles going on in the Republican side - the battle for the nomination and the battle for control of the Republican party and the wingnuts seem to be losing both. We have discussed this second battle in: Conservative - The new toxic tag?As the once mighty fallAfraid to win?Rush and McCain Harold Meyerson discusses the battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party in:The Repudiation of Rove John McCain had a surprising but pleasant evening last night -- watching Mitt Romney go down to defeat in nearly every contest and encountering a newly victorious but ultimately unnominatable Mike Huckabee all across the Bible Belt. McCain's successes so far reflect not only his appeal as a candidate but also the bankruptcy of the conservative agenda and political strategy that have steered the Republicans for many years.McCain's victories have been chie...
More About: Post , Super