Uncategorized
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The persecution complex of the right
Matthew Yglesias makes an apt point on Tapped last week about the new right-wing comic book series about a dystopian future of “ultra-liberalism,” which is part of a long series of persecution fantasies coming from the right: It’s rather odd to see persecution fantasies coming from the right at a moment when Republicans control the
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No solid evidence on Ohio fraud allegations
Kevin Drum flags Matt Taibbi overpromising and underdelivering on his allegations of vote fraud in Ohio. No surprise there. The Democrats even conceded that there was no evidence of fraud when releasing their report on irregularities in Ohio (which does show that we to improve access to the polls so that people don’t have to
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Are we in the midst of a major social revival?
Writing in the New York Times today, David Brooks notes that a series of social indicators that are all moving in a positive direction: The decline in family violence is part of a whole web of positive, mutually reinforcing social trends. To put it in old-fashioned terms, America is becoming more virtuous. Americans today hurt
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Bush suggests tax cuts increased revenue… again!
For the 500th time, President Bush’s tax cuts have not increased federal tax revenue — they’ve dramatically reduced it. (See my last post on this subject for details.) But Bush keeps suggesting that his tax cuts have made the deficit smaller. The latest example comes from his weekly radio address: The tax relief stimulated economic
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What is Pete Stark talking about?
I think it’s a scandal that we don’t have universal health insurance in this country, but Congressman Pete Stark has gone off the deep end: We’re the only country in the world — not the only civilized country, not the only industrialized country, not the only non-third world country — we’re the only country in
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The Why Tuesday campaign
As part of the debate over renewing the Voting Rights Act, a group called Why Tuesday is lobbying to move Election Day to a weekend to promote higher turnout. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Andrew Young lays out the rationale in an Atlanta Journal Constitution op-ed (registration required): Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of
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Hillary and the pledge, contd.
As I mentioned before, Hillary’s refusal to pledge to serve out her next term is the perfect issue for Republicans to set up a narrative describing her as opportunistic. But she’s still holding out on the pledge against the wishes of 60 percent of New Yorkers. So why run again for the Senate? Why set
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The lack of process stories on Bush’s unpopularity
One huge difference between the Clinton and Bush administrations is the way their poll numbers are covered in the press. When Clinton dipped in the polls, the media would inevitably write a slew of process stories about an administration in disarray, the need to change tactics, etc. But when Bush’s approval ratings drop to the
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Stem cell initiatives: good politics, bad policy
Glenn Reynolds endorses Joan Vennochi’s call for state stem cell initiatives in the Boston Globe: A few years ago we saw a raft of anti-technology stuff… I notice now that we’re seeing more from the other side…. This confluence — together with poll data and other recent indicators — suggests to me that Joan Vennochi
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John Kerry is not a popular guy
Losing a highly polarized election has turned John Kerry into a pariah. Republicans hate him because of what he stands for, and Democrats hate him for losing. A Gallup poll conducted July 25-28 (margin of error +/-3%) shows that even Hillary is substantially more popular than Kerry. I’ve never taken him seriously for 2008, but