Over the next two years, nearly all of the Somali Bantu refugees in Kenya
Domestic Politics
Democrat Political Campaigns
As we all know, Democrat Presidential campaigns are all about issues:
The Economy
More bad news on the economy:
Consumer confidence plunged in February to its lowest level in more than nine years, the Conference Board reported today, as concerns about a war with Iraq, rising energy prices and jobs took a toll on attitudes.
The consumer confidence index, a monthly measure, fell to a reading of 64 from 78.8 in January.
Fabulous. FWIW- other than my stocks not doing particularly well (but holding their onw), I just have not felt the pinch yet. I consider myself lucky.
*** Update ***
Scrappleface has the Democrat plan to ease consumer confidence:
With the index of consumer confidence sagging to its lowest level in nine years, Congressional Democrats will introduce a new plan this week to boost it.
Based on a National Education Association (NEA) concept, the plan calls for encouraging consumers by “letting them know they’re really doing well even if they’re not buying anything.”
As part of the proposed program, Americans who cut back on spending because of vague fears about the future will receive a “smiley face” on their checking account statements. Federal employees will stand at the entrances to stores and shopping malls shouting encouraging words to people who leave without making a purchase.
Food For Thought
The folks at Spinsanity explain why Hesiod, NPR, and the rest of the lunatic fringe are wrong again.
In a commentary on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” yesterday [Real Audio], Daniel Schorr cited a proposed change in the federal school lunch program as evidence that President Bush is dismantling anti-poverty programs. But the charge is presented without adequate context, implying that Bush is actually cutting funding rather than changing the verification procedures used to evaluate eligibility.
Expect to hear the nitwits and the ideologues repeat the ‘Bush cut School Lunches” mantra throughout the election, despite the fact it is nonsense.
Abortion Politics
Generally, I am pro-choice- my choice is that I will never support it- but I also choose to let others make their own decision and to live with themselves. However, it is illustrative that the ‘party of choice’ really isn’t:
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., promised to bring up the abortion issue if he finds himself debating President Bush next year.
“I’ll tell him, ‘There’s a fundamental difference between he and I (sic; it’s been a long time since Kerry’s prep school grammar classes): I trust women to make their own decisions. You don’t,” Kerry said. Fine words. But it looks like the only decision John Kerry trusts women to make is the decision to have or not have an abortion.
He doesn’t trust a woman to make the decision to invest her Social Security taxes in private accounts that would provide her a more comfortable retirement. He doesn’t trust a woman to own a gun. He doesn’t trust a woman to make her own decision on where her children will go to school.
The truth hurts. I’d vote for this party:
Too many people these days think “choice” only refers to abortion. I’d like to hear a presidential candidate say, “I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I believe in a woman’s right to choose whether to have a child. I believe in a woman’s right to choose any job someone will hire her for. I believe in a woman’s right to choose to own a gun. I believe in a woman’s right to choose the school she thinks is best for her child, public or private. I believe in a woman’s right to choose what kinds of art she will spend her money on, even if she prefers Madonna or Randy Travis and Congress wants to give her money to Robert Mapplethorpe or Luciano Pavarotti. I believe in a woman’s right to choose to drive a cab, even if she doesn’t have a license. I believe in a woman’s right to choose the employees she wants for her business, even if they don’t fit some government quota. I believe in a woman’s right to choose the drugs she prefers for recreation, whether she chooses Coors or cocaine. I believe in a woman’s right to choose how to spend all of her hard-earned money, without giving half of it to the government.”
Whether or not you support the right to choose abortion, surely that is a more difficult issue, involving more lives and more complexities than the right to choose a school for your child, to use marijuana, or to own a gun. And yet many of the supporters of “a woman’s right to choose” don’t support a woman’s right to make those choices.
DOW 7000?
The DOW plunged below 8000 today. F—— Great!
It is weird- I really don’t feel like the economy is that bad- but the market is sure sucking wind. Maybe I have my head in the sand.
Court Files
Here are the PDF files for all the documentation of the Michigan Affirmative Action cases now before the Supreme Court.