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

The Point at which I stopped giving Barry O the benefit of the doubt

As quoted by Greg Sargent: I am fierce advocate for equality for gay and — well, let me start by talking about my own views. I think it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something I have been consistent on and something I […]

UAW responds to Senate Republicans

rdan The Detroit Free Press carries this statement: “The UAW is deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans have blocked the bipartisan legislation that was agreed to by President Bush and congressional Democrats. “In an effort to work out a compromise, the UAW was prepared to agree that any restructuring plan should ensure that the wages and […]

A Collective "Aw, Gee" is in order

CNN works hard for its money: Although ex-presidents in Adams’ day quickly descended into obscurity after their years in the Oval Office, today the transition away from serving as the leader of the free world is high-profile, potentially very lucrative and, above all, a difficult job in itself. This is especially true for Bush, historians […]

Canadian Content

There are three regular AB posters who currently are residents of the Great White North. So, naturally, it’s a Brooklyn boy who breaks the news that a plurality is not always a majority: The Liberals and New Democrats signed an agreement on Monday to form an unprecedented coalition government, with a written pledge of support […]

Waiting for the DeLong-Fish Cage Match

While I’m trying to decide whether unmanaged funds are preferrable to mismanaged ones, and wondering whether any discussion of Mark Cuban (I like the picture better than CNN’s) belong here,* the NYT decides to continue its determined destruction of its reputation. Stanley Fish manages to forget—or, more accurately, ignore, since he mentions it in the […]

Is David Leonhardt pretending Henry Paulson did his job?

Or does he know better? This year’s election coincided with an important moment in the financial crisis. The credit markets have stabilized in the last few weeks and even improved a bit. But the rest of the economy is deteriorating fairly rapidly. It’s now in danger of falling into a vicious spiral, in which spending […]

The BradAltman Effect?

Is gay the New Black? Note this partial list of companies who said No on 8: Most of the state’s highest-profile political leaders — including both U.S. senators and the mayors of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles — along with the editorial pages of most major newspapers, opposed the measure. PG&E, Apple and […]

Win the Nobel Prize,* they publish you on Sunday instead of Monday

Krugman believes people want someone who is “serious”: In a way, you can’t blame Mr. McCain for campaigning on trivia—after all, it’s worked in the past. Most notably, President Bush got within hanging-chads-and-butterfly-ballot range of the White House only because much of the news media, rather than focusing on the candidates’ policy proposals, focused on […]

The Original Bailout Bill, or Ms. Smith Goes to Washington*

by Ken Houghton Prefatory Note: I wrote this several hours ago, but we had enough great posts this morning from Robert, Spencer, cactus, and rdan that I scheduled it instead of posting directly. In the interim, the House approved the second bailout bill, which I am already on record as opposing, for reasons similar to […]