Comments Posted By allen
Displaying 1 To 10 Of 74 Comments
A SHORT NOTE ON ADDUCING THE POLITICS OF ANYONE BY PERUSING THEIR BOOKSHELF
That's pathetic. He's on a Whitehouse tour and that's what he noticed. Forget the rampant stupidity about making hay from a few books in a library that probably consists of thousands. Forget the irony of missing the old adage of not judging a book by it's cover.
But, he literally found nothing else of interest in the Whitehouse?
Comment Posted By Allen On 18.02.2010 @ 15:46
THE GREEK CRISIS EXPLAINED - SORT OF
The Greek government debt exceeds their GDP, and has reached a point that no one thinks they can ever re-pay it. Thus, everyone is reluctant to lend them any more money. At this point I'm not sure they can be bailed out, unless Germany swallows Greek debt.
It would seem that debt passing the GDP of a nation is a huge psychological point. At our rate we'll find out what that means in about 3 years. That is if our economy grows at 3.5% annually, if not, sooner.
Comment Posted By Allen On 11.02.2010 @ 13:37
This brought a laugh and a memory of my first visit to the Soviet Union. It was the late eighties and I was checking into my hotel in Leningrad. They handed me the room key and a roll of toilet paper. I was earnestly informed I should return the toilet paper when I went out and would receive it back when I returned, to prevent it from being stolen. It seems windshield wiper blades were also a very hot commodity. Even the KGB folks had to remove their wipers when they parked.
Comment Posted By Allen On 9.02.2010 @ 12:57
THE PERSISTENT MYTH THAT PEOPLE DON'T VOTE THEIR INTERESTS
It's not as if Congress and the Presidency don't have a track record. Just a few off the top of my head.
1. Fix Social Security for all time, Reagan with a democrat Congress.
2. Illegal immigration problem solved, Reagan with a democrat Congress.
3. Glass-Steagell repealed to bring innovation to banks, Clinton with a republican Congress.It's not that the people don't know their own interests it's that the proposed legislation often brings counter-productive results, and the voters know it. This is the same reason why voters shrieked when Bush talked about SS reform, immigration reform, and now Obama and healthcare reform. It's not the issue itself, it's the ability of Congress and the President to bring reform that won't make things worse. Right now the voters don't trust them to do that.
Comment Posted By Allen On 31.01.2010 @ 11:48
HOW DUMB ARE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?
Tax relief? No wonder Klein is getting snippy, the American people have already figured it out and he hasn't. It's a reduction in witholding on your income tax. The amount you get in your paycheck is considered a credit, and get to add back into your tax owed for your 2009-2010 returns for most Americans. Same tax, different timing.
Similarly, yes the feds have sent some money to states. But people have already figured out that's federal debt to bail out dysfunctional states. As for the shovel ready jobs, people aren't seeing it happen. The fault is not the "dumb" people it's that morons like Klein haven't figured it out.
Comment Posted By Allen On 25.01.2010 @ 18:32
WHAT'S ALL THE HUB-BUB ABOUT CAMPAIGN FINANCE?
Corporations were previously allowed to run as many ads as they wanted up to within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election. Now they can run them any time they want. I can't for the life of me figure out how that changes the game in any substantive manner.
If people were so damned concerned about corporate advertising they would understand that the earlier shaping of the races is far more important, and ban them then. All the screaming is just that, an excuse to scream about something.
Comment Posted By Allen On 23.01.2010 @ 15:44
ZUCKERMAN'S LAMENT, KRUGMAN'S DISGUST
I think it would be a political mistake to re-approach health care reform at this point. It's just too toxic right now. Obama needs to pick something smaller that's winnable to move through Congress. That way he can gain some momentum. A football metaphor comes to mind, run off tackle to pick up 4 or 5 yards and start the drive.
His main problem now, is that a majority of the American people don't approve of his job performance. He needs to address that first.
Comment Posted By Allen On 21.01.2010 @ 14:19
DOES A BROWN VICTORY POSE A DANGER FOR THE GOP?
More bullshit, little difference. A single seat change in the Senate, which neither party has a clue to what it means, voila!
We surrender, the political class, and their attendant squires can describe it for us later.
Oh by the way, you can all kiss our ass. Our vote is not your right.
Comment Posted By Allen On 20.01.2010 @ 02:11
SARAH PALIN AS THE PIVOT FOR 'NEW' GOP
My guess is that the GOP will try to sideline her from an actual run, while courting her for a full fledged endorsement. She has the ability to bring out the crowds and raise money so they need her, but I don't think she has the horsepower to run.
The key question is, will her supporters stay with her if she doesn't run? If she doesn't live up to their expectations, i.e. selling out to the establishment, they could turn on her in a heartbeat.
Comment Posted By Allen On 8.01.2010 @ 14:31
IS OBAMA BEING PRUDENT OR IS HE INCOMPETENT?
Someone is giving this administration some very bad poltical advice. Right now you've got tens of millions of people trudging through long security delays at airports all over the country, and the President is now realizing that he might need to be out in front of this?
Even leaving out the security issues, you've got millions of people in a bad mood, in various states of undress going through security, and you're telling them it's a failed system? Shoot the other foot.
That, and everyone and their brother seemed to know this was a bad guy, but he still got through. This administration might think they can blame it on the previous one, but the problem is the voters might not buy that.
Comment Posted By Allen On 31.12.2009 @ 15:45
