Yesterday PGL covered the surprising news that Snow will stay on at Treasury. From the news conference yesterday: “The president’s pleased that Secretary Snow agreed to continue serving as secretary of the Treasury,” McClellan said. When I heard this one of my favorite quotes immediately popped into my head: “I don’t think any of us […]

The New York Times reports that the leaders of the gay rights movement are debating how to alter their strategies and tactics in the wake of the apparent recent backlash against homosexuals. Apparently some groups are moving away from trying to legalize same-sex marriages and toward more moderate, inoffensive, and uncontroversial policy stances. This strikes […]

Rumsfeld was in Kuwait hoping to cheer up the troops but faced a few tough questions: One soldier, identified by The Associated Press as Army Spc. Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, a Tennessee National Guard outfit, asked Rumsfeld why more military combat vehicles were not reinforced for battle conditions. “Why do we […]

When I heard this news, I was looking for someone to say the obvious reason why Bush wants Snow to stay and AP’s Scott Lindlaw obliged: In February 2003, Snow replaced Paul O’Neill, whose blunt talking style – and open reservations about the wisdom of large tax cuts – irked the White House. Snow has […]

Oil prices are way down over the past couple of weeks. Today they hovered in the $41-$42 per barrel range, compared to a high of around $55/bbl in October. There seems to have been considerable volatility in recent days, partly because of the impending OPEC meeting in which production quotas may be changed. Is it […]

This probably represents a small victory for common sense: ALBANY, Dec. 7 — After years of false starts, state lawmakers voted Tuesday evening to reduce the steep mandatory prison sentences given to people convicted of drug crimes in New York State, sanctions considered among the most severe in the nation. The push to soften the […]

The Wall Street Journal ran a story today suggesting that some people are beginning to question the US government’s AAA bond rating. As bearish as I am on the dollar, I must say that I think that downgrading the rating of US government debt is something that will not happen in my lifetime. The reason […]

Bob Somerby has even more fun with the Social Security debate in his latest two Daily Howlers here and here. The second one reports on Paul Krugman’s excellent New York Times oped and then turns on David Brooks who appeared on This Week: BROOKS (12/5/04): First of all, we’re not going to increase the debt. […]

The following from the winner of the most recent Nobel Prize in economics may surprise many: STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The U.S. current account and budget deficits, which some analysts see as the cause of the dollar’s depreciation, pose no problems for the world economy, one of the Nobel 2004 economics prize laureates said on Tuesday…”The […]

Via Max Sawicky whose latest includes lots of links to economists who might support social cecurity privatization including this contribution from David Altig. As I read David’s very sensible comments, I could not help notice how his honest analysis contradicts much of what Senator Bill Frist said on this show during his Sunday interview. Alas, […]