I know the Constitution is, in places, ambiguous, but this language seems pretty straightforward: The Congress shall have power… to declare war… That’s Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution. It’s the "War Powers Clause". The dirty little secret is that Congress, in all its history, has only declared war five times: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), … Read More
I’m No Economist, But….
….this makes no sense to me. From Mike Allen’s piece just out in The Politico … The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction. What does … Read More
Convention Fight
Two months ago, Democrats were wringing their hands about the possibility of a party-rending convention battle between the Hillary minions and the Barack minions, with the superdelegates caought in the middle. Remeber that? Ahhhhh, good times. But according to today’s Washington Post, the convention battle might be on the GOP side: Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies … Read More
Yes, The Rumors You Have Heard Are True
I approved this message…
Read Maureen Dowd
She’s surprisingly good today, as she takes on the Rove meme that Obama is a country-club elite. Here’s a taste: Karl Rove was impressed with Barack Obama when he first met him. But now he sees him as a “coolly arrogant” elitist. This was Rove’s take on Obama to Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club Monday, according to Christianne Klein … Read More
“I Cant Heeeeear You”
The White House is full of children. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger to health or the environment. The EPA, under Bush Administration influence, had been dragging its heels on the issue, saying that it was not part of its duties. The Supreme Court said, "Oh, yes it is". … Read More
Shorter McCain Energy Policy
It’s this: "Fuck if I know, but if someone can build a better mousetrap, I’ll give them lots of money." That’s not an energy policy; that’s a game show. First of all, giving a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or … Read More
Inspector General’s Report: DOJ Politicized Hiring
This just in: A report from the inspector general — the result of an investigation into DOJ hiring practices over the last six years — alleges that “many qualified candidates” were rejected from an elite recruitment program because of perceived liberal bias. Here’s a story from the NYT’s Eric Lichtblau, and here’s an AP report. Click here for the 115-page … Read More
Dobson: Obama is “dragging biblical understanding through the gutter”
I’m going to assume this is a craven attempt for publicity, because on logical and argumentative grounds, Dobson isn’t saying much. From the AP: As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement’s biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution. The … Read More
The Country I Love
"Country I Love": They’re running it on a very aggressive 18 state play that includes Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Virginia. The ad does a good job of reminding people that Obama’s mom was white, and that he’s not — you know — a Muslim (as many wingnuts suggest), or an effete ivory tower liberal (as … Read More
Why I’m Voting Republican
This is why:
Tax Policies of McCain and Obama
The Tax Policy Center today released an exhaustive comparison of the tax plans of Barack Obama and John McCain. The graph below shows the change in income (up being more income, down being less income) under the Obama (blue) and McCain (reddish) tax plans. Bottom line: The people who need money the most will benefit most from Obama’s plan; the … Read More
Prez Race Tight In NC
Rasmussen. 6/10. Likely voters. MoE 4% (5/8 results) McCain (R) 45 (48) Obama (D) 43 (45) The internals: 6/10 Total Men Wom GOP Dem Other McCain 45 45 45 88 16 36 Obama 43 43 43 6 76 39 5/8 Total Men Wom GOP Dem Other McCain 48 52 44 81 20 49 Obama 45 … Read More
The Religious Vote In 2008
Barna, the pre-eminent pollers of religion-related issues, says the landscape is changing: The Christian community in the U.S. has largely shifted its loyalty to the Democratic nominee in this year’s race. In the 2004 election, 81% of evangelicals voted for the Republican incumbent George W. Bush. Currently, 78% of the likely voters who are evangelical expect to vote for Sen. … Read More
Bobby We Hardly Knew Ye
40 years ago today (from the movie "Bobby"): Real footage: The funeral train: The L.A. Times has a nice rememberance page. Is history repeating itself? Through both violent tragedy and political intrigue, Election 1968 had been transformed from a hopeful opportunity to change the country into an ugly case study of how easy it is to snuff out idealism and … Read More