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

A Conversation with George Soros

With thanks to Felix Salmon for arranging the invitation. There’s an episode of House where he has to get rid of one of the people for his new team.  By the end of the episode, the sharpest person in the group has said everything that we would have expected to hear from House—and is therefore […]

SS Actuary’s "Bombshell" Fizzles: Krasting Lays Egg

by Bruce Webb Regular readers of Angry Bear will be familiar with bond trader turned blogger Bruce Krasting and his, can we say non-standard conclusions about Social Security solvency. Well he is at it again today under the provocative title of SSTF – Steve Goss’s Bombshell – What Could it Mean?. SSTF means Social Security […]

Infrastructure and Human Capital Interlude

Busy week, so just a couple of things of note. Via Dr. Black, my old neighborhood gets a chance to build a better future: “It’s a great partnership among a number of researchers from academia, the private sector and national laboratories. It’s a great collaboration for a solid project that will help the environment,” said […]

More than an election message

George Lakoff offers his take on some of the mistakes Democrats are making currently in their overall message to the nation compared to the Republicans, with the backdrop and rulings from Rush Limbaugh on proper behavior for the Republican political leadership: Why conservative lies_spread_and what progressives can do to fight them Fit matters. The brain […]

There’s an election in 2012

Went to Massacghusetts for the weekend, where I learned that Martha Coakley supports child rapists* and Scott Brown (R-MA Sen.) is a decent legislator who stands by his convictions, including his opposition to the Financial Services Reform Act, which principled action he takes because the act institutionalizes Too Big to Fail. (This is also Russ […]

This idea was lifted from an e-mail exchange with Noni Mausa this morning. The following well seasoned joke reminds me of political communications among the people who write the copy for our leaders: A carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he’d lost […]

Constitutional Originalism and Immigration

by Bruce Webb Something has been bugging me. Why is it that the same people that indignantly claim that a requirement for people to show proof of insurance is unconstitutional but that it is perfectly fine, nay imperative that people show proof of citizenship or legal residency? Exactly where in the Constitution does it give […]

UC-Berkeley Law School Degrades Itself Even More

No wonder Brad DeLong has had no luck persuading Christopher Edley to get rid of the malfeasant John Yoo. As Bob Somersby observes: Christopher Edley thinks he’s one of your “betters.” It’s hard to believe, but that’s the exceptionally low-IQ framework this self-proclaimed member of the elite enunciated in Sunday’s piece. According to Edley, rubes […]

I’ll Believe in the Tea Baggers if Tamyra Gets the Signatures

Tamyra d’Ippolito has suddenly become a Very Important Person. She needs signatures primarily in Indian’s Eighth District (currently represented by Brad Ellsworth, who would be the Party’s pick to replace Evan Bayh), Evansville, and Terre Haute. She has a background to make a Tea Partier proud: I was born in Worthington, Indiana and raised in […]

I Take No Joy in Raping and Pillaging

Chris Christie moves New Jersey into the 17th century: Christie is cutting $475 million in aid to school districts, $62 million in aid to colleges and $12 million to hospital charity care. He is pulling all funding from the department of Public Advocate….He is cutting state subsidies for NJ Transit, a move Christie said could […]