The title says it all. I spent the afternoon at the DMV dealing with driver’s license stuff, then the rest of the day on the phone with insurance agents and AAA.
Long story short, I am in a pissy mood.
Here is a virgin thread.
by John Cole| 54 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
The title says it all. I spent the afternoon at the DMV dealing with driver’s license stuff, then the rest of the day on the phone with insurance agents and AAA.
Long story short, I am in a pissy mood.
Here is a virgin thread.
by John Cole| 74 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
It goes without saying that I think the Red State response to Earth Hour was ridiculous, and I have spent the last few days having my email bombarded by A.C. Kleinheider about whether or not Al Gore left his lights on or not, but what I really don’t understand is why they think this is an effective way to raise public support for environmental causes.
Let me break it down for you. People don’t want to sit in the dark for an hour in 2009. Period.
I am all in favor of efforts to promote the health of the environment. I will pay higher taxes on fossil fuels. I will support investment in green technologies. I will support investments in biofuels and alternative energy. I will support higher CAFE standards and substantial investments in mass transit. I will support efforts to protect endangered species, wetlands, and to preserve pristine tracts of land. I will reside in an eco-friendly abode as soon as it is economically feasible. I recycle. I use reusable bags when I shop. I will carpool. I’ll do all of that, and I am sure I will do more.
But I’m not going to sit in the damned dark for an hour. That is just silly.
by John Cole| 23 Comments
I can’t be the only one who read this piece by Jonathan Chait titled “Why the Democrats Can’t Govern,” a longish lament about Democrats killing Obama’s agenda, and whose first reaction upon reading the piece was:
“You know what else makes it hard to govern? When people launch venomous and nasty smear campaigns about individuals appointed to positions in the Obama administration.”
Chait should add the much-feared Free Tibet lobby to the list of obstacles facing President Obama. Although he would never take part in anything like that, I am sure.
by DougJ| 67 Comments
This post is in: Politics
Liz Benjamin — one of the premier political reporters in NYS — has an interesting piece on the stakes of tomorrow’s special election in NY-20:
One GOP consultant who isn’t working on Tedisco’s camapign suggested this race could actually end up being a “perfect storm,” leading to calls for the ouster of party leaders all the way up the food chain.
On the line are local leaders like Saratoga County’s Jasper Nolan, an early champion of Tedisco and veteran chairman who has weathered several failed coup attempts; state Chairman Joe Mondello, who presided over the meeting at which the 10 county chairs picked Tedisco and was under fire even before the party’s historic loss of the state Senate majority last year; RNC’s Michael Steele, who was the first to suggest the 20th CD contest would be a bellweather of the national GOP’s ability to make a comeback.
Another interesting tidbit about the race: Sarah Palin is showing up alongside Bush and Rush in mailers being sent out by the Democratic party attacking the Republican candidate.
by DougJ| 40 Comments
This post is in: Media
I’m tired of arguing about Krugman with everyone, but I’d like to point out a remarkable passage in Evan Thomas’s piece about Krugman in Newsweek:
If you are of the establishment persuasion (and I am), reading Krugman makes you uneasy. You hope he’s wrong, and you sense he’s being a little harsh (especially about Geithner), but you have a creeping feeling that he knows something that others cannot, or will not, see. By definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order. Members of the ruling class have a vested interest in keeping things pretty much the way they are. Safeguarding the status quo, protecting traditional institutions, can be healthy and useful, stabilizing and reassuring. But sometimes, beneath the pleasant murmur and tinkle of cocktails, the old guard cannot hear the sound of ice cracking. The in crowd of any age can be deceived by self-confidence…
I agree with John that the piece was content-free in general. But I credit Thomas for admitting what role establishment media plays.
(via a reader in today’s WaPo chat with Kurtz)
by DougJ| 77 Comments
This post is in: Media
The new Republican line against Obama is that everything he’s doing to prop up the economy is unconstitutional. Michelle Bachmann last week:
Sir, in the Constitution? What in the Constitution could you point to to give authority to the Treasury extraordinary actions that they take?
It is high time Americans heard an argument that might turn a vague national uneasiness into a vivid awareness of something going very wrong. The argument is that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) is unconstitutional.
Sully finds Will’s rantings fascinating. Publius has a good take-down of the article.
A reader in today’s WaPo chat:
Arlington, Va.: Isn’t “President fires CEO” as troubling as “Pope fires missile”?
Free market capitalism, despite it’s obvious flaws, has lifted more people from poverty than anything in history. When the president can hire and fire CEOs from corporations, we’re no longer a free market capitalist society. GM is clearly a disaster, but it’s up to their board and shareholders to make those decisions. Obama is clearly just helping his union buddies, but he’s destroying the foundation of our economy as he does it.
Is there anything the Supreme Court can do about it? Isn’t this clearly beyond his constitutional duties? Or, because they’re saying he “resigned”, is Obama safe (and the rest of us doomed)?
[….]it seems from what I read that Wagoner is officially stepping aside, not being fired by the president.: That is also the official line Russia and Venezuela, etc., use when removing CEOs from businesses they dislike. This is a very scary precedent Mr. Obama is setting. Very scary.
Expect to see a lot of this one over the next few months.
by John Cole| 98 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
Here is what I don’t understand about the freak-out (which I predicted, btw) over the government refusing to give GM money unless they get rid of Wagoner. Sully provides a brief comment that serves to summarize much of the commentary from the right:
I get the heebie-jeebies any time a politician makes a business decision.
My reliably conservative relative called me last night and asked me if I was not upset about this, and then got mad at me and told me I was just blinded by love for Obama when I said I couldn’t care less. Why would I? Few on the right have any problem telling welfare recipients what to do. I doubt Andrew has ever seen a welfare reform bill he didn’t like. Other than Josh Trevino, I don’t remember any opposition from the right about the Bankruptcy Bill and all the draconian demands placed on individuals.
This isn’t the government going to Microsoft and telling Bill gates what to do. This isn’t the government coming to your profitable small business and telling you who to hire and fire. Hell, this isn’t even the government telling GM what to do in the daily operation of their business. These are companies who have made decades of bad decisions coming to the government for yet another bailout, and as a requirement, the Obama team is demanding some leadership shake-up. Not only does it make sense to get rid of the guy who has been there for the last ten years as things went down the drain, but it would be politically impossible to bail these guys out unless some changes were made.
If GM wants Wagoner to stay, they can go without federal money. It is that simple. Hell, if I had my way, we would have leadership turn-over at every bank or institution receiving TARP money.