Politics

Jon Stewart has probably done the best job of pointing this out that I've seen so far with some pretty hilarious juxtaposition of "before and after" clips showing Republicans staunchly defending spending under Bush, talking about how invaluable Iraqi democracy is that we really can't put a price on it (of billions), then turning around and ranting and raving about the stimulus bill and the multigenerational debt we're engendering: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=217691 I think it's clear Republicans are opposed to deficit spending, but only when Democrats are in power. McCain, who suspended his campaign to spend a day lollygaggi…

http://www.reuters.com/article/CHMMFG/idUSN0936136620090309 It's about time. We have no money now, but at least our heads are in the right place.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/09/obama-says-government-open-door-human-cloning/ Interesting. If Bush had said that (and I think he did!), this board would have been all over him for stupidity in the face of science. Other countries are already exploring cloning, right? So is Obama just another stupid religious zealot? I don't agree with his decision here, but I think he's walking a fine line between religious objections and legitimate ethical concerns. This has the feel of a statement that's just meant to appease people about embryonic stem cell research, doesn't it?

It's Fox News, but is it really that hard to believe that 51% of Democrats "wanted Bush to fail"? I don't think it is at all. Seems like fair play, following the chastisement of Rush Limbaugh for wanting Obama to fail. And now I have to shower. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/09/flashback-poll-showed-democrats-wanted-bush-fail/

I wasn't expecting this so soon, but: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/05/health.care.summit/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Very interested to see where this is going... I certainly support a move towards a universal healthcare system and have thought of America as somewhat backwards in that respect.

I read in the newspaper the other day that at ING (a big Dutch bank), thousands of employees will get a bonus regardless of the facts that (1) the bank has received massive government support, and (2) they have suffered losses which were pretty significant imho. These bonuses are in total 950 million euro according to some sources. ING denies that it's this much, but admits that bonuses are given. This made me a bit upset actually. Are these bankers really so arrogant? They just work at the bank, like any employee. The majority of the bankers didn't invest a penny in the company where they work. I know what happens if you leave a kid and a cookie jar in one room a…

The most important thing that you should realize about terrorists: they're insignificant. Airplanes are considered incredibly safe, yet in the Western countries more people die in aircrashes than from terrorism. So stop being so paranoid, and stop investing so much money in prevention, and in stead invest it in things that DO matter. Don't worry and ignore the media (or at least, when you see how many people die in this-and-this attack - realize that there are almost 7 billion people on earth). In numbers: total deaths in Western countries from terrorism: about 5000 in the last 10 years? That's 3000 in the twin towers, some in Madrid, some in London, and another 1000…

Today the Treasury Department released an executive summary of the Obama's mortgage relief plan. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg33.htm This executive summary, it seems to me, over uses the term "responsible homeowners." It seems to me that this term should be replaced with "irresponsible mortgage holders." This plan also includes the following. Is the purpose of the above quote to placate the dim witted? So they are saying that yes they understand that real estate values are in correction but this plan could reduce that correction on the average home by $6,000? How do they prove such a thing? Well, I guess they did say "could." …

I've been criticizing the Republicans for years for being "borrow and spend", and now it seems like the Democrats are no better: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/04/spending.earmarks/index.html?eref=rss_topstories I really hope Obama starts taking a stand and reducing spending or raising taxes, but maybe I'm just hoping too much that Obama will be (Bill) Clinton.

What did you all think of the President's pullout schedule, announced today? It apparently calls for a pull out of major forces by mid-2010, which is a bit longer than the 16 months he promised (but in direct response to input from commanders on the ground, which he pledged to listen to). I thought it was interesting that the plan seemed to get support from the right and criticism from the left. McCain was "cautiously optimistic", for example, but many House Democrats were critical of the plan not being fast enough and still leaving troops in the country after that time (supposedly all would not be removed until something like 2013). I've seen several articl…

Well here's an Obama decision I disagree with. I understand its source and these things tend to be very complex, though, so I'm trying to keep a fairly open mind about it. Currently student loans are, in the main, privately funded but federally backed, which means that if the student is unable to pay it back the government steps in and covers the loan. Since this is a 100% guarantee of repayment, investment was a no-brainer and that meant that plenty of money was available for lending to students (in fact this change, stemming from the Clinton administration, is generally attributed as the source of the great educational explosion of the late 1990s and early 2000s).…

While some members of this forum insist an investigation of the Bush administration is little more than petty, partistan revenge, 71% of Americans wish to see Bush investigated. 41% want a criminal investigation, while 30% want investigation by an independent panel. Just to toss some more statistics at you, 63% want an investigation into Bush's illegal wiretapping, and 62% want an investigation into the use of torture. As you may have guessed, or read from my previous posts, I count myself among those who wish to see Bush investigated for wiretapping, torture, and I would like to see him criminally investigated. My belief is that Bush has violated the Fourth …

The Secretary of Defense has lifted the ban on press coverage of coffins returning to Dover AFB from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6965734&page=1 I think this is the right move because it's more open and above-board, and it also allows for families to continue to opt for privacy if that is their preference. Apparently this is still somewhat controversial and in transition -- some question what would happen if a family is split over the issue, for example. But presumably this could be worked out on a case-by-case basis. Apparently the decision was widely supported by veterans groups. What do you all th…

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE51G5X720090222 It is audacious, especially when you look at a key statistic that the reporters haven't calculated yet (more no that below). But I think it's what has to be done. First, a key quote from the article above: Very clever of the president to phrase his statement around values based on "the economy" rather than the budget. The budget is only 3 trillion versus 14 trillion for the economy, so the figures look very small, when in fact they're quite large. A cut from 26 to 22% of "the economy" represents 4% of $14 trillion. That's $560 billion. In other words, he's saying that he's going to c…

http://www.recovery.gov/ More of Obama's fresh approach to transparency. You think any spending bill more than say, $10 billion would come with a web site. Glad to see this stuff. (and for those of you who weren't aware, Obama signed the stimulus bill into law yesterday)

The whole program is available for viewing at the following: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meltdown/ This was an amazingly well told story, and was doubly dramatic because it was all real and being experienced by all of us right now. We've all been hearing about the economic issues in sound byte fashion... little piece-meal nuggets of information here and there, but nothing cohesive or anything which threaded it all together. Well, in classic Frontline fashion, the history of the situation is brought together with interviews and insights few have heard. They focused heavily on the battle between systemic risk and moral hazard... how Paulson was …

Couple interesting polls out, showing mixed results for the new administration. In general his approval rating remains very high, as is perhaps to be expected given the short time frame, but he's clearly having difficulty conveying certain aspects of "change". Republicans are being hammered over the issue of who's compromising and who is not. This is not surprising, though, and actually more or less part of the Republican game plan at the moment -- taking an obvious hit now, while they're already down, in exchange for a potential payoff down the road if Obama's economic plan fails. One interesting thing that's come up is a sharp contrast between the resul…

In the light of the stimulus bill, what are your thoughts in regard to Obama and the Democratic Party's attempts at bipartisanship? I've left this poll publicly viewable, but if you're too lazy to see what I voted and am curious what I think, I think Obama has given the Republicans a fair shake and they are simply being stubborn and hypocritical. What do you think? (Note: This poll pertains primarily to the stimulus as it's the most significant piece of legislation since Obama took office)

...Still? If not, which nation is the freest on Earth today? I don't mean in respect to businesses having freedoms equal to those of citizens.....the U.S. Declaration of Independence says "pursuit of happiness" -- yet I'm fairly certain most here can agree that's a little broad for our purpose here, compared to if they had written "and the pursuit of riches/wealth/power". So we're going only by Freedom of the Press, and of citizens. The less the press is owned by conglomerates, the more journalists can really print the truth in the widest-reaching media (i.e. internet) -- even if it's ugly -- and so the more free the media is. Rules Choose one nati…

I'm not sure I get this thing. Take a look at this cartoon: Yes, it's clearly a reference to the recent news story about the Connecticut woman who was attacked by a chimpanzee and was subsequently shot by police, but the thing I don't understand is why the cartoonist thought that the reader would be able to make a humorous connection with the president and his stimulus bill. Why would the police shoot the president? I don't get it. Can someone explain the joke to me? I don't see how I can figure out whether or not it's racist if I don't understand it. But if the only connection between the chimpanzee and the president is the comparison of African Amer…

Then don't get one. /me hides from the flame war. But, on a serious note, I don't understand the big deal.

Did you know that Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have constitutions that explicitly forbid atheists from holding state office? Well, they do. http://freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Laws_and_other_rules_against_atheists_and_agnostics I must say, it sure is a good thing we have that intelligent piece of writing we like to call the Establishment Clause. Maybe if we pretend it doesn't exist then people can just keep pushing their religion throughout our society until they're forcibly stopped from doing so, and forced to abide by our constitution (or, instead ). Speaking of legality, all laws against ath…

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aDYQRfop9MWc&refer=us Yeah, what can I say. This sucks. This is the one criminal act Bush perpetrated which I really can't see anyone defending. Bush knew what the law was, and so did the people involved. The people involved sought a presidential signature to cover their asses. And not just one signature, instead Bush signed off on the program dozens of times. Our precious personal info was diverted into the NSA without warrant. Telcos, featuring potential litigation, pressured Bush and Congress to cover their asses, because they had done something illegal. A federal judge ruled it was illegal. …

Here is a nice (where is that tongue-in-cheek smiley?) piece of bipartisan legislation: The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act. It would remove restrictions on federally-funded research that requires researchers to make their publications publicly available (e.g. PubMed, arXiv). The galling title of the thread is a statement by Allan Adler, Association of American Publishers VP for government and legal affairs to the House Judiciary Committee last week. Some reading: http://paulcourant.net/2008/09/17/fair-copyright-in-research-works/ http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6595774.html http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/open_access_the_time_to_act_is.php?u…