For some reason, Steve Verdon keeps treating the DU folks as if they are worthy of serious debate.
Archives for 2003
Dick Gephardt
A grown-up Democrat does the right thing- which means there is no chance in hell he will win the nomination:
Democrat Dick Gephardt, siding with President Bush on his $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan, pledged Wednesday to finance the war on terrorism even if that posture undercuts his presidential bid or ensures budget deficits for years to come.
“We’re in a military situation, we’ve got a lot of foreign obligations, we’re fighting terrorism in many places around the world, we’ve got homeland security needs,” the former House minority leader said. “In light of that, I don’t think it’s possible to get to a balanced budget.”
In an hourlong interview with Associated Press editors and reporters, Gephardt criticized Bush’s postwar policy in Iraq, but argued that it would be irresponsible to vote against reconstruction money for two war-torn nations.
“I think we’ve got to send the right signal to our troops in the field, and we’ve got to send the right signal to people in Iraq who both don’t want us to succeed and do want us to succeed,” Gephardt said.
For years I railed against Gephardt when he was in a leadership position, and it is clear now how loyal a Democrat he was. Clearly, he does not believe the crap that the far left flank of his party tries to advance, but he did it because it was his job in the leadership. That is the only way I can explain his having morphed over the last 12-14 months into a respectable moderate Democrat.
Bad News For Democrats
The economy continues to improve:
The U.S. jobs market is showing signs of improvement and inflation remains low in the economy outside the energy sector, government reports on Thursday said.
The number of Americans filing an initial claim for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early February, the Labor Department said, a hopeful sign for job seekers.
Underlying inflation, stripping out volatile food and energy costs rose 0.1 percent in September, in line with expectations. Over the last 12 months, the core CPI has risen just 1.2 percent, the smallest increase since February 1966, the department said.
“By and large these numbers so far today show a strong economy,” said Pierre Ellis, senior international economist at Decision Economics.
First-time filings for state unemployment aid fell 4,000 last week to 384,000 from the previous week. The number was broadly in line with analysts’ expectations that claims would be 388,000.
“The jobless numbers were certainly encouraging. We got a decline and it suggests that the labor market is recovering,” said Parul Jain, Nomura Securities International.
It was the second week in a row that claims came in under 400,000. Economists say claims above 400,000 suggest a deteriorating jobs market.
Why does it always seem that bad news for Democrats is good news for the rest of the country?
*** Update ***
Of course, Atrios shows why he continues to be a dishonest, semi-literate hack:
Congratulations to the 384K new jobless, and the 6K who we missed last week.
Moderately good news, or at least not horribly bad news.
Quagmire Update
Yet another crushing defeat for the US diplomatic corps:
The Security Council voted unanimously today to adopt a resolution on the future of Iraq, handing the United States a major diplomatic victory in its campaign to gather wider international contributions of troops and money for the rebuilding effort.
In a press conference after the 10:50 a.m. vote, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell called the action “a great achievement for the entire Security Council to come together again in this manner.”
Russia, France and Germany, all of which opposed the war and had been threatening to abstain from today’s vote, agreed to back the measure, saying they were acting in the interest of council unity.
Laptop Fund
In case you were curious, the Laptop Fund is still mired at $60.25, two books, and an offer to pay me to never blog again. Should you choose ton contribute to this outstanding charity, there are numerous options:
And, should you decide you would rather shower in prison than donate anything to the Balloon Juice Laptop Fund, but still might have a little extra cash that you don’t know what to do with, I suggest you check out my favorite charity in the world, Helping Hands Monkeys. They have a worthy project that could use your money.
Bryant Sanity
I have specifically avoided the Kobe Bryant case, and will continue to do so, but I do have to say that Jeralynn Merritt has brought some much needed sanity to the debate in her appearances on MSNBC (Dan Abram’s show- where they have already convicted Kobe) the last two nights.
Goodbye, Mr. Edwards
This will leave a mark:
Deepening the Democratic split over Iraq, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina today became the party’s first major presidential contender to oppose President Bush’s request for $87 billion to secure and reconstruct the country…
“It is clear to me that President Bush is not going to change direction unless someone stands up to him and says no,” said Edwards, who had voted in 2002 to authorize the war in Iraq.
Edwards said he did not want the United States to withdraw from Iraq, but believed that a congressional vote denying Bush the funds would compel the administration to develop a new reconstruction plan that provided a larger role to the United Nations and ensured that the rebuilding “will not be exploited as a means to give sweetheart deals to [the president’s] friends.”
From the WaPo today:
France, Russia and Germany on Tuesday dropped their demands that the United States grant the United Nations a central role in Iraq’s reconstruction and yield power to a provisional Iraqi government in the coming months.
The move constituted a major retreat by the Security Council’s chief antiwar advocates, and signaled their renewed willingness to consider the merits of a U.S. resolution aimed at conferring greater international legitimacy on its military occupation of Iraq.
All three countries seem willing to accept a resolution that would retain U.S. authority over Iraq’s political future while extending only a symbolic measure of sovereignty to Iraqis. But a major sticking point remains: The three governments made new demands, including setting a timetable for ending the U.S. military occupation in Iraq and strengthening the Security Council’s role in monitoring Iraq’s political transition.
Thanks for all your help and, ummm, leadership, Sen. Edwards.