political tidbits

Hearts and Votes in Appalachia

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:47:34 -0500

The new villains: Dodd and Frank?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:58:12 -0500

But the main justification for these attacks – that congressional Democrats colluded with Fannie and Freddie to block increased regulation – ignores a central fact: The fight to impose tougher oversight on the two government-sponsored secondary lenders was predominantly waged between the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill – with Frank playing a bit role in the stalemate.

Palin's Imaginary Washington - washingtonpost.com

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:41:11 -0500

Palin's Imaginary Washington - washingtonpost.com

Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican, said he was “resolute” in his opposition to the measure...

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:46:30 -0500

Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican, said he was “resolute” in his opposition to the measure because it would betray party principles and amount to “a coffin on top of Ronald Reagan’s coffin.”

Apparently the Republicans recognize that Reagan’s legacy is over too!

"The point is, we don’t just need a bailout. We need a buildup. We need to get back to making stuff,..."

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:44:49 -0500

“The point is, we don’t just need a bailout. We need a buildup. We need to get back to making stuff, based on real engineering not just financial engineering. We need to get back to a world where people are able to realize the American Dream — a house with a yard — because they have built something with their hands, not because they got a “liar loan” from an underregulated bank with no money down and nothing to pay for two years. The American Dream is an aspiration, not an entitlement.”

- Op-Ed Columnist - Green the Bailout - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

"It’s that utter power vacuum that gave McCain the opening to pull his potentially catastrophic..."

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:40:52 -0500

“It’s that utter power vacuum that gave McCain the opening to pull his potentially catastrophic display of economic “leadership” last week. He may be the first presidential candidate in our history to risk wrecking the country even before being voted into the Oval Office.”

- Op-Ed Columnist - McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Video

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:16:04 -0500

I'm Voting Republican

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:56:11 -0500

I'm Voting Republican

Iraq, Still Inscrutable

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:52:57 -0500

Iraq, Still Inscrutable :

“When it comes to Iraq, most Americans really want to leave, but they still don’t want to lose,” argues Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” Navigating these conflicting moods and trends on the ground in Iraq is going to be one of the most excruciatingly difficult challenges ever handed from one president to another.

It's About Time!

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:57:06 -0500

It's About Time!:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have the right to go before U.S. federal judges to challenge their years-long detention, handing a stinging setback to the Bush administration.

Congrats, Condolences, and Mom's

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:26:49 -0500

By all indications tonight, Barack Obama has secured the right to be the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. Senator Obama must be commended for running an intelligent campaign that took no states for granted (barring Michigan and Florida, which is another story completely). Senator Obama recognized at the beginning that this race would come down to delegate totals, and was very intelligent in creating a campaign that would allow him to reach the goal for nomination.

It is understandable that Senator Clinton and her supporters want to continue the fight, for they have fought hard. Senator Clinton must be commended for her tenacity in the face of circumstances that would have made others fade away. I am sure that there are huge regrets, but I have no doubt that her political career is far from over.

There has been a lot of coverage recently about the decline in the support of women of European descent for Senator Obama, primarily due to feelings that his campaign, the Democratic party apparatus, and the mainstream media have placed the gender card against Senator Clinton.

While there may have indeed been sexism at work at the local level (much of which remains unseen at the national level), I confess that I haven’t seen much if any of it from Obama himself, or his top level aides, even when Bill Clinton was making comments that certainly seemed on the surface to raise race as an issue. Why? Could it be his own legacy as the son of a divorced white woman? Would not his own personal relationship with his mother, a person who fought in the face of prevailing trends and made her own way, have some effect on his willingness to use gender as a weapon? As the son of a divorced white woman who parented a son to adulthood, I can say that my own attitudes toward sexism have been deeply affected by my own experience.

If you think that going over to McCain is the right thing to do, then go ahead. But before you do, think about what Obama’s mom might say if she were with us today.

"If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be..."

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:22:20 -0500

““If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal,” and “There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!””

- —George W. Bush

Enraged and Confused - The Opinionator - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Truth or Consequences

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:07:45 -0500

Truth or Consequences:

But the message going forward to every car buyer and carmaker would be this: The price of gasoline is never going back down. Therefore, if you buy a big gas guzzler today, you are locking yourself into perpetually high gasoline bills. You are buying a pig that will eat you out of house and home. At the same time, if you, a manufacturer, continue building fleets of nonhybrid gas guzzlers, you are condemning yourself, your employees and shareholders to oblivion

Former press secretary's book bashes Bush - Yahoo! News

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:56:44 -0500

Former press secretary's book bashes Bush - Yahoo! News:

But, McClellan said, Bush’s unwillingness to admit mistakes and belief in his own spin contributed to turning the president into “not quite the leader I once imagined him to be.” He faults Bush for a “lack of inquisitiveness” and “a degree of self-deception that may be psychologically necessary to justify the tactics needed to win the political game.” Bush “convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment,” McClellan writes.

Dow: Country in "true energy crisis"; ups prices - Yahoo! News

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:54:03 -0500

Dow: Country in "true energy crisis"; ups prices - Yahoo! News:

“For years, Washington has failed to address the issue of rising energy costs and, as a result, the country now faces a true energy crisis, one that is causing serious harm to America’s manufacturing sector and all consumers of energy,” Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Liveris said in a statement.

“The government’s failure to develop a comprehensive energy policy is causing U.S. industry to lose ground when it comes to global competitiveness, and our own domestic markets are now starting to see demand destruction throughout the U.S.”

Audit finds lax oversight in contractor payments - Yahoo! News

Fri, 23 May 2008 08:06:24 -0500

Audit finds lax oversight in contractor payments - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - An internal audit of some $8 billion paid to U.S. and Iraqi contractors found that nearly every transaction failed to comply with federal laws or regulations aimed at preventing fraud, in some cases lacking even basic invoices explaining how the money was spent.

Obama tells Tenn.'s GOP: 'Lay off my wife'

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:51:44 -0500

Obama tells Tenn.'s GOP: 'Lay off my wife'

Taxpayers fund Bill Clinton spending - Kenneth P. Vogel - Politico.com

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:34:59 -0500

Taxpayers fund Bill Clinton spending - Kenneth P. Vogel - Politico.com

"Chill out” is good advice. Hillary Clinton has every right to keep fighting. But her campaign..."

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:03:03 -0500

““Chill out” is good advice. Hillary Clinton has every right to keep fighting. But her campaign has suffered from a ricochet effect. Attacks aimed at her opponent and efforts to exaggerate her experience have weakened rather than strengthened her claim to the nomination.”

- E. J. Dionne Jr. - Clinton’s Real Choice - washingtonpost.com

"For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him..."

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:45:57 -0500

“For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance. When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.”

- The Long Defeat - New York Times