Iraq’s government has decided to reverse a decision made by the Bush administration that was by all accounts a disastrous mistake. From today’s NYTimes: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 2 – The Iraqi government called Wednesday for the return of junior officers from the disbanded army of Saddam Hussein, openly reversing an American directive issued in 2003. […]

One of my favorite details in the reporting about the closed-door session of the Senate that Harry Reid called yesterday was this one from the AP version of the story: “[Lott] said Reid’s move violated the Senate’s tradition of courtesy and consent.” It actually made me laugh out loud when I read that Lott was […]

Almost five years ago, the Texas Rangers offered one player about $25 million per year over ten years. Some might claim that these contracts increase the price of tickets, but I’d rather suggest that it is our demand for the sport that creates economic rent for quality players. OK, A-rod plays for the Yankees now […]

During his press conference last week, I thought I heard Patrick Fitzgerald says “It’s Not Over” in reference to his investigation. Did I only imagine the word “not”? It seems some on the right must have heard him declare “It’s Over”. At least, many of the talking heads on the Sunday talk shows seemed to […]

Republicans on Capitol Hill are going ahead with their plans to trim the budget. Despite Tom Delay’s assurances that there remains no fat in the federal budget after several years of Republican rule in Washington, they have bravely identified cuts totaling $50bn – over five years – in health care and food assistance to the […]

Having watched the various pundits on Sunday morning’s talk shows, I wanted to pass along a couple of the items I learned from the rightwing masters of spin as well as provide a graph. Alas, I’m not sure how to graph Fitzmas so that will have to await until tomorrow, but I was able to […]

The latest data regarding the personal income received by Americans has me slightly worried. The headlines of stories about today’s BEA news release have been along the lines of “Real spending falls 2 months in a row“. But I’m actually more concerned about real income growth. Take a look at the following picture. It shows […]

The opinion of Bush’s newest nomination to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, regarding the abortion issue will undoubtedly receive a flood of attention in coming weeks. But Alito’s opinion regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), signed into law in 1993 by Bill Clinton, also seems deserving of close scrutiny – particularly since it […]

On Friday, the BEA reported GDP (advance) for the third quarter 2005. The BEA reported that Residential Investment was still robust at an annual rate of $761.5 Billion or 6.05% of GDP. The following graph shows Residential Investment as a % of GDP for the last 40 years. The booms and busts of the housing […]

For a moment, I thought the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy had a major change of heart on this matter: The claim that Libby is being smeared with the allegation that he leaked classified information even though he hasn’t been charged with it, and that because he has not been charged he has no way to […]