December 2009
Memo to David Simon: More Shows, Fewer...
azspot:
VM: Why does reform seem so impossible? DS: We live in an oligarchy. The mother’s milk of American politics is money, and the reason they can’t reform financing, the reason that we can’t have public funding of elections rather than private donations, the reason that K Street is K Street in Washington, is to make sure that no popular sentiment survives. You’re witnessing it now with health...
“It went over well except for one person who thought it was blasphemous and tried...”
– ‘Seinfeld’ over, but Festivus keeps giving - CNN.com
The Public Option and More
Obama claims he didn’t campaign on a public option:
“I didn’t campaign on the public option,” Obama said in the interview.
As others have noted, his campaign website stated that his plan:
Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
But let’s look closely at what he said when he...
Can Obama Open His Mouth Without Lying About... →
Read the post at the link above. He’s blatantly lying about the most important legislative initiative of his presidency, right? And why doesn’t that bother you?
Sweden's bizarre tradition of watching Donald Duck... →
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
robot-heart-politics:
squashed:jeffmiller:
I don’t like the idea of using debt to finance a recovery, that’s true; I don’t think government should be in the business of manipulating the economy. It’s different when private actors borrow money, since they aren’t “borrowing” with ability to use force to collect money to make the payments in the future.
But this isn’t my point, which you’ve...
The words you left out
squashed:
“We’re basically the drug-addict parent who breaks his child’s piggy bank so he can buy “one more hit,” all while promising to go straight as soon as he gets through this one rough patch first. Except we’re worse, because sometimes drug addicts do give up drugs.”
—
Jeff Miller, who doesn’t like the idea of using debt to finance a recovery. Presumably he feels the same way about...
“The idea behind the stimulus is to buy a bunch of stuff, whether we need it or...”
– Squashed: Um … no.
There are two camps of people: those who think this is perfectly reasonable, and those who think this is fantastically absurd. Count me among those who think it’s absurd to spend our kids’ money on things we don’t need.
We’re basically the...
WatchSnow
Pinning Blame
moorewr:
1st point - that’s hair-splitting. Every tiny detail has been in the press, whatever the intended process was. 2nd:
jeffmiller:
…I find it hilarious that Democrats blame Republicans for the fact that the bill is awful. This isn’t a Republican bill. Republicans aren’t voting for it. They didn’t draft it. They weren’t even in the room when it was negotiated. It isn’t the GOP’s...
Behind Closed Doors
moorewr:
“behind closed doors?” I can’t imagine a more painfully public process for any legislation, ever. And if it is a bad bill, blame the GOP for handing veto power to a handful of Democrats who happen to be the Insurance Industry’s best friends.
Okay, first, it’s been behind closed doors:
Three months before he was elected president, Barack Obama vowed not only to reform health care...
Amazed
The Democrats are about to pass a bill that insurance companies love, but the public hates. When people realize that they have to buy insurance policies or face penalties, they will hate it even more, since they voted for a president who promised there wouldn’t be a mandate. No serious person believes the numbers that have been used to justify this legislation. Since the President lacks...
The Sad Demise of the Exception
southpol:
“In New York City, the Bowery Mission tossed away a batch of fried chicken brought by a local church to help feed the homeless. The chicken contained trans fat, and city law bans all licensed food vendors, including emergency food providers, from serving food with trans fat.”
—
A Bunch of Chickens - Daily Brickbats : Reason Magazine
I do not understand this country anymore. I...
“In New York City, the Bowery Mission tossed away a batch of fried chicken...”
– A Bunch of Chickens - Daily Brickbats : Reason Magazine
I do not understand this country anymore. I really don’t.
“President Barack Obama’s plan to talk tough to bankers in a meeting at the White...”
– Bank execs miss Obama’s tough talk - - POLITICO.com
This is everything you need to know about politics:
1. These rich businessmen were flying commercial to their meeting with the President because people would be outraged if they flew in private planes.
2. Because they flew commercial,...
“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you...”
– Google CEO Eric Schmidt
Fantastic. I assume that Google will be publishing of all of its trade secrets for public consumption. Because obviously, if they didn’t want these things to be known, they wouldn’t be doing them in the first place.
Tiger Woods
I don’t get it. I mean, I get why people are interested in the story. But I don’t get this narrative:
So now that the “real” Woods has been revealed as a wild bone-daddy who behaves more like your out-of-work, alcoholic brother-in-law than an object of worship, we feel cheated. Aside from the hundreds of millions he’s earned from golf tournaments and endorsements,...
“In a roll call vote (all the better to point fingers at lady haters later, my...”
– Katherin Mangu-Ward, Congress Protects Breasts from Science, Themselves - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine