The best way to send a big “fuck you” to Mark Halperin is to give money to Democratic candidates. A bit of good news politically: recent polls show that my man John Callahan in PA-15 has a real chance to beat a Republican incumbent.
We are over 9% 900% 90% of the way to our fund-raising goal and while we can’t send you a Balloon Juice totebag for your donation, we also don’t inflict much David Brooks and Paul Gigot on you.
Suzan
Ok, I did it. But I have a question. On Internet forms that ask for my street addy, why can’t it fill in the state and city when I put in my zip? Am I the only who who is bugged by this? Who says computers have made us lazy?
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Suzan:
Good question. It bugs me too. Luckily Firefox autofills for me sometimes.
Kristine
$30 to Feingold.
MikeJ
@Suzan: It’s the programers who are lazy. I’ve written a hojillion apps that do just what you suggest.
Linkmeister
Paul Gigot? He hasn’t been on The News Hour in 15 years!
WaterGirl
$10 to Feingold. I have very little discretionary income at this point so the contribution is small, but I appreciate that so many of you are stepping up with contributions. Thank you.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Nope, nope, nope. Not gonna. That way, when President Palin’s drones drag me off to the George Rekers National Uppity Negrohomo Reeducation Kamp, you’ll feel ROTTEN.
[Sulk]
David Fud
For contributing to the aforementioned Galt-fest, I decided to atone with some cash. Don’t thank me. I’m just prolonging the agony.
Spiffy McBang
Over 9000%?!
Suzan
@DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.:
Yes, me too but not by putting in my zip, only when I type the first letter. Maybe it bugs me more because my city name is longish, choppy, not easy to type (Salt Lake City) and I want to scream “you have my zip, you know my city!” And sometimes do. Yes, yes, I know, people are actually dying.
General Stuck
45 large would not even touch Karl Rove’s night out at the titty bar. But it will likely pay for an ad showing that Rove Inc. et al are in the process of buying an election with tons of cash from gawd knows where.
Napoleon
@Spiffy McBang:
As the “the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice” I believe he is only required to have all the numeracy skills of the business and economics editor for The Atlantic.
cyntax
Will you inflict less Halprin?
JenJen
How weird that it took Mark fucking Halperin to finally motivate me enough to make my first donation of the campaign season.
Thanks, DougJ. I feel like I just blew a no-hitter in the bottom of the 9th.
ETA: Winning pitcher? Joe Sestak. C’mon Juicers. Look under the seat cushions if you have to (I know I did, and this is one Cincinnatian who isn’t especially feeling warm and welcoming toward the state of Pennsylvania right now).
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
I will when i get home. $50 to bill White to help him beat GoodHair, but I’ll take suggestions on what to do with another $100.
Punchy
90%? Really?
Clearly, DougJ needs a refresher in his long division. Look:
(45651 x 50000)/3.14 + GDP growth/8.12 x (flat tax rate) = 78.4%.
Dumbass.
Morbo
@Spiffy McBang: You’d think DougJ has been around the internet long enough to get that right. I’m assuming that’s a joke at McArdle’s expense though so it gets a pass.
JenJen
Just kicked in again, out of guilt for not seeing Jack Conway on the list in the first place. Dumb me.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@JenJen:
Thanks!
jnfr
I have been giving my bits of donation cash to Betsy Markey for CO District 4. She made the hard vote on health care given that her district is pretty conservative and I wrote to her then and said if she voted for it I’d support her efforts. She may or may not win this time, but she deserves to.
The GOP and affiliated groups are spending big bucks here in Colorado against Markey, Senator Michael Bennet, and Ed Perlmutter (CD-7). It’s wall-to-wall attack ads these days.
Anyway, I support the Balloon Juice effort, but had to put my cash in a little different direction this time.
jl
OK, I’m in and will look later to see if a little more will put BJ over.
In related news, the Nobel Memorial Prize for econ went to three labor market economists. Two of whom I think would be deemed communists by the current GOP and Tea Peoples.
And the Winners Are
Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen, and Christopher Pissarides:
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/10/and-the-winners-are.html
Besides labor, Diamond has done a lot of work on social insurance, and his views are very moderate and sound. Diamond correctly views these programs as insurance policies and not opportunities to play the market. He has warned against rash privatization schemes that promise more than they deliver, though he is not hostile to responsible partial privatization as has been done in, for example, Sweden. But I think responsible privatization schemes are irrelevant to US policy, since I doubt that responsible privatization will ever be proposed in this country.
Diamond has been nominated to the Fed, but GOP has blocked it, dissing Diamond’s qualifications. However, one of the responsibilities of the Fed is to maintain employment (even if the Fed Chairman, Bernanke, could not recall that part of his job description in some recent testimony). So Diamond does have very good qualifications for the position.
Mark Thoms highlights Pissarides’ comments for the NT Times on the current recesssion:
‘ Professor Pissarides said that he thought the work being honored had one lesson in particular for today’s policymakers: “What we should really be doing is make sure the unemployed do not stay unemployed for too long, to try to give them direct work experience,” so that they “don’t lose their attachment to the labor force.” ‘
(emphasis added by me)
Gus
@jnfr: Yeah, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to give to Mark Dayton, the MN Dem gubernatorial candidate, to try to save what’s left of the good life in Minnesota. The Republican candidate Tom Emmer is a real fucking prize. Makes Pawlenty look good.
Tonal Crow
I’ve kicked in money for DFA (not sorry, Dean-haters) and some initiative campaigns, but also to the DCCC and even (gag) to the DSCC. But if we keep the Senate, Harry Reid’s gotta go. We need a real fighter as majority leader.
jl
Can’t read the post too well. BJ sending out totebags or toetags?
Xecky Gilchrist
@jl: BJ sending out totebags or toetags?
tokebags, I think.
Linda Featheringill
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Donations:
I just saw an ad that said the Bachmann could be beat. Do you think that is true?
I don’t live in MN but boy-oh-boy would I like to get rid of her.
Electoral-Vote has Bachmann ahead by 9 points but I don’t know about the polling agent and don’t know how much GOTV has taken place.
Don’t have much in the way of cash but might scrape up a little. If this looks possible, can we include her opponent [Tarryl Clark] in the recipients of our generosity?
Edited for grammar.
jl
@Xecky Gilchrist: thanks. Those sound like more fun. They are stuffed tokebags, I hope.
MattR
Instead of totebags, John could send Tunch around the country to spend a day (or more) with the various contributors.
KCinDC
What’s the best way to send a big “fuck you” to Bing (aside from continuing not to use it)? I’m so far still avoiding installing an ad blocker because I know the blog benefits from showing me the ads, but this latest ad’s driving me round the bend.
Tonal Crow
@jl: That sounds way more fun than the “Tohtbags” I thought he was sending around. Why would anyone but a teabagger want those?
Tonal Crow
@KCinDC: A good adblocker lets you block ads based upon origin. If the Bing ads have a repeatably different source URL from the other ads, you should be able to block them selectively. If you’re using a Mozilla browser (Firefox, Seamonkey, etc.), look at AdblockPlus.
jl
@MattR: Better, get Tunch get a tad hungry and send him on a grand tour of the BJ ActBlue opponents.
Be sure NOT to weigh Tunch before he leaves or after he gets back. That might be used as evidence, for whatever happened.
“Such a sweet kitty. I see he doesn’t have any problem eating, does he?”
Gus
@Linda Featheringill: Not if lawn signs are any indication. I drove through a sizable chunk of that district Saturday, and they love them some crazy lady Michelle. It’s a weird, weird district. Lots of exurban teabaggers and farmers who would vote for anyone who is anti-abortion.
MattR
@jl:
Do we have time to wait that long? ;)
I guess John can send Lily and/or Rosie to those who donate.
jl
@MattR: I thought Tunch getting hungry enough to eat a human just took a few minutes, and getting the travel arrangements would be the problem.
Capn America
@Spiffy McBang: lulz you beat me to it.
Zifnab
@Linda Featheringill: If Minnesota loses a Congressional seat, it’s going to be a real shake up for Bachmann’s seat. Given that she was leading the charge on Census conspiracy theory bullshit, I doubt the Minnesota state legislature will treat her kindly.
Cheryl from Maryland
Contributed because although Maryland appears close to sane (but watch yourself Steny Hoyer), my people in Congress need assistance. Also, I feel so icky that I enjoyed Mark Halperin’s novels. I think I need to burn the one I own.
Quaker in a Basement
I’m so old I remember when approval ratings in the mid-forties meant the press referred to him as “popular.”
Tonal Crow
@Quaker in a Basement: Only a Republican is “popular” with mid-40s approval ratings. A Democrat is “in serious trouble” with those ratings. So say our media overlords, and who am I to disagree?
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
Thanks to everyone who gave!
Left Coast Tom
Actually you inflict a lot of David Brooks on us. I just assumed it was a personal failing.
Still, I gave.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Left Coast Tom:
I knew someone would say that.