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

About that “State and local governments are closer to the people” thing …

Indeed, they are; state and local governments are closer to the people.  It’s just that the people they’re closer to probably aren’t, well … you. So, here’s a question: Why isn’t, say, Kay Hagan, who’s running against the Speaker of the State House*, or Charlie Crist, who’s running against Florida governor Rick Scott, um, mentioning this in their […]

Try THIS, Michelle Nunn ….

Dem Senate candidate Michelle Nunn is up with a new ad that contains footage of GOPer David Perdue telling a local TV station that he is “proud” of his outsourcing past. This footage could prove especially potent in a state with such high unemployment, but Nunn trails Perdue by nearly four points in the polling average, which is […]

Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Campaign to Dismantle the Post Office

Guest Post by Steve Hutkins a literature professor who teaches “place studies” at the Gallatin School of New York University. This is Part 1 in a series of 3 articles as written by Steve Hutkins in 2012. These articles originally appeared on the “Save The Post Office Blog”. Steve lives in a small town in […]

Are Poor People Consuming More than They Used To? Six Graphs

“Poor people today have air conditioners and smart phones!” You hear that a lot. “You should be looking at poor people’s consumption, not their income. By that measure, they’re doing great.” The basic point is very true. If poor people today have more and better stuff, can buy more and better stuff each year, maybe we […]

California, watersheds, and using water

At Angry Bear and other sites a common proposal in comments is to bring increasing amounts of water from other watersheds into the area or desalination. It often stays at an abstract and macro level, or as a pitch for conservation at the urban/suburban level for low water volume devices to use at home. Surely […]

Turns out that farm subsidies aren’t the only federal program Joni Ernst won’t vote to kill if she wins that Senate race. There’s one more federal program she wants to keep.

Ernst likes FEMA and wants to keep it!  So does her father.  This even though some blue states benefit from it sometimes, too! Go figure. She won’t even squawk about appropriations for it.  Then again, she’s a turkey, not a chicken.  So she might cluck.   —- APPENDED: From the Comments thread here: EMichael / October 8, 2014 10:55 […]

Sooo …. which of Obama’s economic policies do you want to repeal or defeat, Repubs?? And replace those policies with whose–I mean, what–economic policies, exactly? Do tell!

Barack Obama wanted to galvanize Democrats when he insisted this week that his economic policies are on the ballot in November. Instead, the soundbite has already become the centerpiece of new Republican attack ads. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell uses the clip in a new commercial, shared first with POLITICO. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts turned his own […]

Repeal LyndonJohnsonCare?

While I was reading an article on the web this morning from my phone, up popped one of those incessant anti-Obama/anti-Obamacare “take-a-survey” ads—one of those little square red-and-white-bordered things with a goofy-looking picture of Obama on it.  My laptop software blocks these things, so I was lucky enough to have not seen one of those […]

Gail Collins’ don’t-miss column on Social Security—and on Joni Ernst—today

Highlights: There was this at the Senate debate in Iowa on Sunday: “I will fight hard to protect Social Security and Medicare for seniors like my mom and dad because our Greatest Generation has worked so hard for the American dream for our families,” said Republican Joni Ernst. Like many conservatives, Ernst supports some sort […]

It’s the Dems, not the Repubs, that should ‘nationalize’ this election. Here’s how:

Best as I can tell, the concept of “nationalizing” this election has been used exclusively to mean that the Republicans want to make this election all about Obama, Obamacare, and such.  Therefore, if the election is “nationalized,” the Repubs win, right? In a post here at AB two weeks ago, I listed some of the […]