Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Back in the Saddle

First off, apologies to everyone for my extended hiatus. It’s been almost four weeks since I’ve posted, which is the longest stretch that I’ve been missing since I starting writing on Angry Bear nearly three years ago. But the past few weeks have been a pretty busy time for me in more than the usual […]

Is Social Security the Worst Government Program Ever?

Human Events lists its top ten. I hate to agree with these rightwing zealots but farm subsidies and earmarking should make this list. And I’ll give credit to Human Events for placing some of the blame on the Republican Party. #3 on their lists confuses income tax withholding with income tax rates – and perhaps […]

The GOP Talking Point

This afternoon I received an email from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. What really stood out is that the NRSC has only one talking point: Vote GOP or Bush might be impeached! An excerpt: “The Washington Post reported this week that House and Senate Democrats are salivating over the possibility of convening hearings on everything […]

Iran: Senator Hagel Counsels President Bush (or at least tries)

Lionel Beehner gives me yet another reason to think there is at least one Republican Senator with both sanity and spine: Yet the letter comes amid renewed calls by some, including former national security adviser Samuel Berger and Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), to reengage directly with Iran’s government to defuse the crisis by diplomatic means. […]

Hayden Nomination and Conservatives Allegedly Abandoning Bush

Glenn Greenwald is certainly correct: Notwithstanding the fact that the Bush administration has violated every tenet of this strain of conservatism for the last five years, conservatives will not be permitted to distance themselves from this administration — as they are transparently and pitifully trying to do now that Bush’s presidency is failed and is […]

Sulli v. Goldberg on Ponnuru’s The Party of Death

While the folks over at the National Review have nothing but praise for a book written by Ramesh Ponnuru, Andrew Sullivan (to his credit) has been criticizing what appears to be a partisan cheap shot. Jonah Goldberg is upset with Sulli and offers this advice: maybe Andrew Sullivan could simply take a few extra minutes […]

Profitability of Big Oil

Max Sawicky had some fun with Rush Limbaugh over whether Big Oil gets $0.09 per gallon or a 9% operating margin. Unless a gallon of gasoline costs $1, there has to be a difference between these two statements. In his comment box, Max linked to something from ConocoPhillips: An industry-wide study in the late 1990s […]

PlameGate News Flash from the National Review

Byron York has been trying to argue for months that Valerie Plame was not undercover. Read his latest where he claims it was Joe Wilson that told the world his wife was a CIA agent. Memo to Mr. York: Brad DeLong has already awarded that Stupidest Man Alive trophy. Update: God bless Jane Hamsher! While […]

Would Allowing Offshore Drilling Lead to Oil Prices Being $13 Per Barrel?

Peter Ferrara says blame “liberals and regulation” and trust the supply-side cure: Over the past thirty years, extreme-left liberals have successfully shut down new energy production in the United States … The liberals also have stoked “Not in My Backyard” concerns in order to stop the building of new oil refineries … Finally, we now […]

Employment Growth Less Than Expected

The Employment Situation Summary for April 2006 reports that employment per the payroll survey rose by 138,000. The household survey shows an increase of only 47,000. I wish I had better new for this Cinco de Mayo. I also want to know what the heck CNN means by this: But the report had one reading […]