Liberal Values Liberal Values Commentary on political issues and popular culture from a socially liberal perspective--concentrating on individual liberty, separationof church and state, and restoring limitations on the power of government. Articles
Fiscal Irresponsibility and Voting Decisions
2008-04-26 03:24:00 We are bound to hear criticism of the Democratic candidate over the fact that the plans either advocates cannot be paid for with the limited tax increases they support. The criticism is valid. As I noted yesterday, even Congressional Democrats realize this. What must be kept in mind is that John McCain ’s proposed tax cuts present ... More About: Economy , George Bush , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton
Protesting Dirty Politics
2008-04-25 22:50:00 Noting in the previous post that another Clinton supporter has stopped backing Clinton due to the negative tone of the campaign raises another point. When Republicans used these tactics they were condemned as being part of a “vast right wing conspiracy” by Clinton supporters. However, not only do they have no qualms about using the ... More About: Politics , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Dirty
Top Clinton Fund Raiser Defects to Obama
2008-04-25 22:38:00 Now that it is mathematically very unlikely for Clinton to win the nomination we can expect to see some Clinton supporters defect to Obama . Today Clinton lost a major fund raiser. First Read reports: NBC News has learned that a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton , former Amb. to Chile Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon is leaving the campaign ... More About: Politics , Barack Obama
Sex For Net Neutrality
2008-04-25 21:24:00 Tania Derveaux, who previously made what was probably the best campaign promise ever to get votes as a candidate for Senate in Belgium, is now working for net neutrality. She is offering to make love to every virgin who backs net neutrality: I’m using sex in a positive way to spread awareness. The reason why only ... More About: International , Blogosphere , Net Neutrality , Civil Liberties
Allegations of Clinton Push-Polling in North Carolina
2008-04-25 20:29:00 The Clinton campaign has been suspected of push-polling before the California and South Carolina primaries. There are new allegations that they are push-polling in North Carolina . The following is a portion of the recorded phone call: I’m going to read you a few criticisms opponents might make about Barack Obama . For each one please tell ... More About: Politics , Hillary Clinton
Martin Sheen Backs Obama
2008-04-25 17:04:00 Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlett on The West Wing has endorsed Barack Obama . While this endorsement will not have any more impact than any of the other endorsements either candidate has received, this is at least a small symbolic victory. Bill Clinton was a big fan of the show and both camps were seeking ... More About: Television , Martin
Krugman?s Confusion
2008-04-25 07:25:00 If you do not understand why the Democratic Party has been a minority party in recent years, or if you want to see the path which risks returning them to the minority, read today’s column by Paul Krugman. In many ways it presents the exact opposite view of the Democratic Party ... More About: Politics , Economy , Barack Obama , Confusion
Electability And The People Each Candidate Attracts
2008-04-25 02:32:00 Prior to the 2006 election the Democrats had been a minority part for quite a while. They often managed to come close in presidential elections and when out of power in Congress often only needed a handful of seats, but the Republicans edged them out most years. To become the majority party did not require ... More About: Politics , Economy , People , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton
The Hill Reports on Congressional Views of Healthcare Reform
2008-04-24 19:55:00 This report from The Hill comes as no surprise considering that I agree with Bruce Bartlett’s predictions with regards to taxes as quoted here. Bartlett predicted that we will not see major tax increases. One consequence is that we are also unlikely to see a universal health plan pass Congress . The Hill reports: Congressional Democrats are ... More About: Views , Health Care , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton
Experts Testify On Failure of Abstinence-Based Education
2008-04-24 16:07:00 Reuters notes how the Bush administration continues to back abstinence based education despite evidence it does not work: Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins, health groups told Congress on Wednesday. The Bush administration, however, voiced continuing support for ... More About: Education , George Bush , Experts , Failure
Clinton Campaign Chair Stars in Fox Promo
2008-04-24 07:14:00 Earlier I noted how Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe had praised Fox. Fox has now turned this into a network promo (video above). More About: Stars , Hillary Clinton , Campaign , Chair
The Pennsylvania Numbers
2008-04-24 06:48:00 While still waiting for the final numbers out of Pennsylvania, it looks like Clinton’s margin of victory will be pretty close to 9.2%. Only by Clinton-math does this round up to 10%. Despite all her campaign’s spin, her victory does not look very impressive as she failed to win by double digits. Also to be ... More About: Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , John Edwards , Cain , Ron Paul
Clinton Continues Dishonest Campaign?This Time Misrepresenting ABC News
2008-04-23 23:35:00 Being far behind Obama by any meaningful measure, the Clinton campaign continues to twist reports to try to claim a lead. They are again stressing popular vote, despite actually being behind. Jake Tapper writes that in making this claim Clinton Camp Misrepresents ABC News Report. Besides being incorrect, the race is based upon delegates, not popular ... More About: Politics , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Time
Clinton Campaign Praises ?Fair and Balanced Fox? Again
2008-04-23 20:47:00 A few weeks ago I noted how Clinton has been joining forces with the “vast right wing conspiracy” (possibly because they now hold similar views on most issues beyond economics and abortion). One example was given in this post where Clinton surrogate Ed Rendell said, “FOX has done the fairest job, and remained the ... More About: Hillary Clinton , Campaign , Fair , News Media
An Uneventful Day
2008-04-23 08:06:00 After six weeks of hype nothing much happened on Tuesday. As most predicted, Clinton won but Obama reduced her lead from earlier polls. While Clinton won in Pennsylvania, the result makes Obama’s nomination a little more certain, and the race will continue with Clinton still remaining in the race. Clinton will pick up a slightly higher ... More About: Politics , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton
A Republican Finally Tells The Truth About Tax Policy
2008-04-23 02:19:00 It’s good to see a Republican actually make sense when writing about the tax policy. This is from an op-ed by Bruce Bartlett: It is an article of faith among Republicans that tax cuts are the cure for every problem the economy faces, and that tax increases are the equivalent of economic poison. Any hint by ... More About: Truth , Economy , Policy
Bush Breaks Record For Disapproval Rating in Gallup History
2008-04-22 22:57:00 Disapproval of George Bush as set a new record. Bush now has “the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.” Currently Bush 28% approve and 69% disapprove of Bush. This exceeds Harry Truman’s disapproval rating of 67% in 1952. In other questions, 63% now agree that the Iraq ... More About: History , George Bush , Polls , Record
McCain Distorts, Too
2008-04-22 19:58:00 John McCain has been claiming that Barack Obama has been distorting his statements in campaigning against him. There has been a little truth to his claims but Marc Ambinder notes that McCain has done the same with regards to Obama’s statements: But McCain is not as clean as his campaign?s outrage at such distortions would suggest. ...
The Clinton Embarassment Continues
2008-04-22 19:47:00 It would sure be great if Obama could manage to do well enough in Pennsylvania to knock the Clinton s out of the race. They are beyond the point where Clinton can both win and retain enough Democratic support to be a viable general election candidate. At this point they are just an embarrassment. One problem is ... More About: Politics , Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton: If I Only Were A Republican
2008-04-22 02:34:00 It just gets harder and harder to take Bill Clinton seriously. The Trail quotes Clinton: “If we were under the Republican system, which is more like the Electoral College, she’d have a 300-delegate lead here,” he said. “I mean, Senator McCain is already the nominee because they chose a system to produce that result, and we ... More About: Politics , Hillary Clinton
How Hillary Clinton Would Deal With John McCain
2008-04-22 01:38:00 Hillary Clinton is mad that Barack Obama suggested that John McCain would not be as bad as George Bush. Hillary Clinton would prefer to be harder on McCain–even to Swift Boat him. Above is the type of ad we might expect if Clinton receives the nomination. More About: Hillary Clinton , Deal , Hillary
Obama Responds to Clinton?s Ad
2008-04-22 00:58:00 Obama responds to Clinton ’s ad based upon fear by asking, “And who in times of challenge will unite us, not use fear and calculation to divide us?” Clinton just seems to never learn how her tactics only play to Obama’s strengths. More About: In the News , Obama
Clinton Continues Negative Campaign Over Nonsense
2008-04-21 23:23:00 When Hillary Clinton hasn’t been pandering to fear or fabricating arguments that Obama, and not her, has been engaged in negative campaigning, she’s been resorting to all sorts of other nonsense. Last week her campaign concentrated on distorting Obama’s comment in San Francisco, falsely claiming he was insulting small town voters. Today the morning news ... More About: Politics , George Bush , Barack Obama , Nonsense
Clinton Resorts to Scare Tactics Yet Again
2008-04-21 18:58:00 Hillary Clinton is coming under attack for resorting to scare tactics to get votes, including using images of Osama bin Laden in her final ads before the Pennsylvania primary. The Obama campaign has responded with this statement by Bill Clinton in which he says: Now one of Clinton’s Laws of Politics is this: If one candidate’s trying ... More About: Terrorism , Hillary Clinton , Tactics , Resorts
Yet Another Clinton Lie?This Time Distorting Blog Post
2008-04-21 18:13:00 Although Clinton has been waging a dirty, negative campaign, she has often tried to distort the facts to make it appear that it is Obama who has been doing this. Marc Ambinder reports that the Clinton campaign has distorted a headline to falsely suggest that Obama has been attacking her. He writes: In their newest television ... More About: Politics , Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton , Time , Post
Thomas Frank Responds on Elitism and Bitterness
2008-04-21 17:16:00 Barack Obama’s recent comments on small town American voters have been compared to the writings of Thomas Frank . I discussed these views at length yesterday in this post. Today The Wall Street Journal has an op-ed from Thomas Frank. Frank looks at whether Obama, and Hillary Clinton , are elitist: Consider, for example, the one fateful charge that ... More About: Economy , Barack Obama
SciFi Friday (Sunday Edition): Torchwood Ends and Doctor Who Returns; A Cyl
2008-04-21 02:53:00 For viewers of the U.S. feeds of the shows, this week marked the end of Torchwood and the start of a new season of Doctor Who . Exit Wounds, the finale of Torchwood presented a surprise as it turned out that Jack’s brother Gray, and not John, was the real villain. John was really the ... More About: Television , Religion , Science Fiction , Food and Drink
Government Viewed as an Element
2008-04-20 23:59:00 Another one of those humorous items being spread by email. This one reports on a new element: Government ium (Gv) Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic ... More About: Element
Joe Lieberman: From Running with Gore to Campaigning for Lieberman
2008-04-20 23:25:00 The New York Times speculates on what would have happened if Gore-Lieberman taken office in 2000: Imagine for a moment the Supreme Court had gone the other way in Bush v. Gore in 2000. We would now be in year eight of the Gore-Lieberman administration. Well, maybe not the Lieberman part. There?s nothing new about friction between ... More About: Politics , Running , Iraq , Democrats , Joe Lieberman
The Media and the Iraq War
More articles from this author:2008-04-20 22:48:00 George Bush got away with one of the biggest foreign policy blunders of all times, often based upon deception, partially due to inadequate scrutiny by the news media. The New York Times has a must-read article on how the Bush administration used military experts, posing as an unbiased source despite often having a conflict of ... More About: Media , Iraq , The Media , Iraq War , George Bush 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
|
 |
|
 |
