Protectionism and Congressional Republicans Brad DeLong has a link to this, from Morgan Stanley economist Stephen Roach: Cries of protectionism can be heard loud and clear in the hallowed halls of the US Congress. America’s jobless recovery has finally reached a breaking point. Republicans and Democrats, alike, are up in arms over the steady attrition […]

Another Vice Presidential Lie Confirmed From Cheney’s Meet the Press appearance on Sept. 14, 2003: CHENEY: …And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven’t had […]

The Dean Bat 5½ days down, 4½ left to raise $5 million in 10 days. I just checked the Dean campaign’s fundraising “bat”, and as of Friday at 11am they had only raised about $1.4 million of that $5. Will they actually come up short on their fundraising goal? That would be a first for […]

Kerry to Dean: Please stop abusing the elderly Kerry wrote a letter to Dean that I think does more to make Kerry look bad than to hurt Dean–the tone is basically “Dear Howard Dean, won’t your please reconsider your position on this issue, as the result of your policy will be to starve children and […]

RIAA I think the record labels are taking the wrong approach to digital music–suing file sharers, crying to congress, and operating their own crappy music websites (pressplay and something or other) instead of innovating. Nevertheless, I’m basically sympathetic to the recording industry’s copyright concerns (if I think $13.99 is too much to pay for a […]

Why you should read Bushwhacked Ivins is always insightful if a bit far to the left and, in her own way, she’s as funny as Franken. Here’s Ivins on why liberals don’t like Bush (from her column, not the book): So George Dubya becomes president, having run as a “compassionate conservative,” and what do we […]

Tempest in a Teapot? The American Prospect has a piece up on the various Draft Clark movements. At various points, the story says that the movement was not as big as it made itself out to be, that it was not really grass-roots, but organized by long-time political strategists from the Clinton White House, and […]

Presidential Reading Material Earlier I posted this exchange from Brit Hume’s Monday interview of President Bush: HUME: How do you get your news? BUSH: I get briefed by Andy Card and Condi in the morning. They come in and tell me. In all due respect, you’ve got a beautiful face and everything. I glance at […]

Spies at Guantanamo Two soldiers are now charged with espionage. From what I’ve read, it could be something as innocuous as passing messages to and from prisoners’ family members in the Middle East, or it could be something more sinister. Overall, I’m having trouble coming up with a scenario in which prisoners at Guantanamo can […]

The Clark Economic Proposal Yesterday Clark issued his economic plan. Here’s an excerpted synopsis from the NYTimes: General Clark, who is retired from the Army, said he would devote $100 billion over two years to three programs, which he said would not expand the federal deficit because he would repeal President Bush’s tax cuts for […]