Politics

BarackObama.com has launched a new t-shirt on April Fools Day: View the shirt here (it's huge) If you aren't aware of what BFD is, it's a reference to a speaking gaffe made by Joe Biden, when he accidentally said that "this is a big f*cking deal" on national television to president Obama when a mic could pick up what he was saying: 3TOcZRK6-ZU Rather than trying to gloss over the f-bomb, apparently BarackObama.com has embraced it, and is now selling t-shirts that let you express your belief that healthcare is a BFD. At least, they seem to be real...

So an open thread here. Apparently there are some people who think Democrats and Republicans are tit-for-tat when it comes to corruption, depravity, contrarianism, etc. Others may feel that one party is generally better than the other. What do you think? (I will withhold my position, which you can probably guess, until some discussion has ensued)

In 2008 the debt to GDP ratio was 40%. The GDP still hasn't been recalculated, so far as I know, and was widely reported last year to be projected to fall because of the economic crisis. According to a CBO report released February 1st, it will rise to 90% by 2020. The CBO even conveniently breaks this down by household: * When Obama entered office, $56,000 per household. (Debt=$6.3 tril) * After one year of Obama in office; $72,000 per household. ($8.2) * In ten years .. by 2020; $170,000 per household. ($20.3) (Edit: Some of these figures seem to be disputed by other sources. See discussion beginning around post #8.) The problem is that it …

Over in another thread it was suggested that "the year of our lord" (AD) is no longer really appropriate to the kind of age that we live in today. If you were given the privilege of restarting the calendar beginning from a key date in history, what AD year would you begin it with, and why? Just by way of example, I'll say that I might begin renumbering from 1546, the year of Tycho Brahe's birth, because of his contributions to astronomy and promoting accuracy in the scientific process of visual observation and data recording. What date might you choose?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-03-29-health-poll_N.htm I would fall into this group as well. I am not happy with the healthcare bill as passed, especially because it's more expensive than a bill that would've included a public option. I am certainly hoping the bill will be revised to include a public option and lower costs, however I'm worried that after the midterm elections the Democrats will no longer have the votes to pull this off, and I can only assume Republicans would continue to oppose a public option, even if it saves money.

"This is the dream - we're going to get this sensational footage of the giant squid trying to do obscene things with the camera." In an article that describes male giant squids as "randy", the BBC is reporting on Dr. Steve O'Shea's plans for catching a giant squid on film for the first time. "The freezer bag at home - to my wife's disgust - is actually full of giant squid gonad samples. We're going to grind all of this up, and we're going to have this puree coming out from the camera, squirting into the water. "Hopefully the male giant squid, absolutely driven into a frenzy, is going to come up and try to mate with the camera. Steve believes that the gian…

Am I missing something about conservatism or am I right? Here is the thing, if conservatives want to "preserve" traditional economic and political systems, then how can they react to economic, social, or environmental changes? Wouldn't conservatism stifle changes that are so needed in society? If societies stagnant and do not progress economically, socially, and politically, is that society at risk of collapsing?

I mostly stopped paying attention to the healthcare bill after it became clear that the public option was pretty much dead. I felt it was pretty pointless to discuss the bill until it actually passed, which, well, it did! This is a pretty awesome list of what the bill actually does: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1914020220100319 In 2014 (a date which is ostensibly set happen after the 2012 election) the mandatory insurance requirement will kick in. Some will scream SOCIALISM! Others will complain the government doesn't have the Constitutional authority to force you to buy something (a statement I mostly agree with). Still others will go, well I have …

I've said many times that one of the reasons I follow politics as a hobby is because, like any American sporting event, when the stakes are high the really interesting things start to happen. Wednesday night was one of those moments, and it was a rare one. The details of those myriad amendments that Republicans were throwing at health care haven't gotten a lot of attention, presumably because the press recognized that they were mainly intended to cause the bill to have to be voted on again. But in ignoring the details, a fascinating example of political gamesmanship was overlooked. What was so interesting about it was that it represented a free pass for Republica…

One of the points that opponents have used to fuel the fight against this bill was that the American people didn't want it. But I was struck a while back by an argument that I caught from Paul Krugman one day, suggesting that once the reform took hold that Americans would support it a lot more willingly. Much that it pains me to credit Krugman, that may be happening even faster than he predicted. (Side note: Does anybody by any chance have a link to Krugman saying something along those lines? Least I can do is give the guy credit, but this really was a while ago.) USA Today and Gallup released a poll on Tuesday showing that 49% of Americans now say that the legis…

An interesting piece in the NYTimes this weekend. It highlights some interesting points. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27sun1.html?_r=2&ref=opinion It has been frustrating to watch Republican leaders posture as the vigilant protectors of Medicare against health care reforms designed to make the system better and more equitable. This is the same party that in the past tried to pare back Medicare and has repeatedly denounced the kind of single-payer system that is at the heart of Medicare and its popularity. For all of the cynicism and hypocrisy, it seems to be working. The Republicans have scared many older Americans into believing that the…

This Bruce Bartlett column slams the tea party movement for something I think most people already realize, namely that teabaggers have rather distorted views of reality: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/18/tea-party-ignorant-taxes-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html Teabaggers think taxes are considerably higher than they actually are, and also many believe taxes have gone up under Obama. At the same time, they complain about the "bailouts", by which they mean both TARP (passed under Bush) and the Stimulus, passed under Obama, which included massive tax cuts.

If you're the Speaker for a sharply divided House of Representatives, how do you get a bill passed if the members vote it down? Simple: You declare that it has passed anyway, and send it to the White House for signature. This is what Nancy Pelosi says she will do if the House's upcoming vote on the Senate's health care bill fails. Which sounds insanely crazy, until you hear that apparently it's happened before. The so-called "Slaughter rule" (some places call it "Solution") is named for Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York who sits on the Rules Committee who apparently mentioned the little-known rule to Pelosi. Pelosi explained at a news conference Mo…

The oft-lamented-as-liberal 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco has done an about-face and upheld the use of the word "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/us/12brfs-PLEDGEOFALLE_BRF.html Of further note: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/court-oks-pledge-of-allegiance-use-of-god-on-money-as-constitutional/1 I agree with this decision. IMO the common expression of religious beliefs is not a violation of the establishment clause. What do you think?

Germans seek asylum in the US I found this interesting. We do take some freedoms for granted.

Senators Lindsay Graham (Republican) and Chuck Schumer (Democrat) met with President Obama on Thursday to discuss a plan to overhaul immigration based around three points: - Tougher border security - New temporary immigrant workers program - Biometric Social Security card - Path to citizenship for current illegal residents Sound thinking, IMO. What do you think? http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-immigration12-2010mar12,0,5784564.story?track=rss

On this past Friday morning the American Enterprise Institute held a panel discussion on the history of the filibuster, and it was broadcast on C-SPAN, who has put it on their web site here: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/220941 Much of the discussion looks at the existence of evidence that supports various preconceived notions about the filibuster. Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion is a look at the history of reconciliation featuring former Senate Parliamentarian Robert Dove, who was present at or presided over many of the events related to its history. (He considers it a monster that has been misused by both parties.) Runs ab…

What socialist services does the US government currently provide? It seems we have several: *military *police *firefighters *voting *Medicare *Medicaid *Social Security *healthcare (via emergency room, for people who can't pay) *public libraries *public schools *government college grants, scholarships, and loans *roads (except toll roads) *the FDA *the EPA I'm probably missing some...

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0310/Harkin_Reconciliation_is_a_go.html Reconciliation is a process which limits debate about a bill and prevents filibuster, and therefore favors the majority party. The Democrats intend to use it to pass the healthcare bill. I most certainly hope such a bill will include a public option. With that one caveat, I would support use of reconciliation here. The Democrats attempted bipartisanship and it was an utter failure. A bit of history of reconciliation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconciliation_%28United_States_Congress%29#Historical_use

Federal "Performance Radio Tax"...what's next. I realize, this may not pass, is no big deal, if enacted would mean maybe 3-5 B$ coming from 50 States and probably would give a little (half the revenue) to artist, song writers etc, which in turn would pay additional taxes, but my question is where is this going to stop. The bills are listed in the article, which I did read, seeing loop holes for further taxing of 'Terrestrial Radio', assume leaving out Satellite Radio.

I love this story -- it's a great example of why I follow politics. Jim Bunning is a 78-year-old very-conservative Republican Senator from Kentucky who's in his second term (following a lengthy stint in the House and long service in local and state politics). He's currently in the midst of a personal, one-man filibuster stopping a $10 billion bill that would provide a simple 30-day extension to continue previously-signed spending on road improvements, unemployment checks for laid-off federal employees, and I believe a few other odds and ends. His objection is that the bill was never paid for. Democrats in leadership procedurally rejected adding the package to the…

A trillion dollars is ALOT of money.. Where the heck are the health-care overhaul people getting this money? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul I thought we had a deficient? Can someone explain the logic of this? If there is any..

I just love Friday afternoons. They're always a highlight of the week for political hobbyists, because that's when administrations "take out the trash", releasing reports and decisions too late for the Friday network evening news, but too minor to stay in the news cycle for three days to hit the Monday broadcasts. Today's gem has the Obama Justice Department clearing the Bush administration lawyers who wrote the now-infamous "torture memos", justifying the use of waterboarding. http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/19/bush.administration.memos/ Of course in these modern times the blogosphere never rests, and it could be an interesting weekend for both …

• A tiny bit of iron in one's diet essential for living, yet half is deadly. • Anger is good occasionally, but half your life full of anger is often worse than being fully content half your life. • Moderate exercise is good, continually half the day isn't. A (fictional) government that's half each of democracy and tryranny isn't balanced, neither is one where religion controls half its officials, nor where corporations dictate half of government. Like in chemistry, the balance exists in universal variables and how functional/stable the resulting lab mixture is. Yet a social culture, of intelligent beings, isn't nearly as predictable as a scientist…

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=123758 I realize this is World Net Daily we're talking about here, but even if it's not true, it's still a remarkably good idea. What's next? Banning breasts on long flights? I wouldn't be surprised.