I got this title listening to George Will spin and Paul Krugman correcting the spin on ABC’s This Week. Will excuses the weak economy by saying voters care not about the state of the economy but its current direction saying recent real GDP growth has been strong. Never mind that Bush himself has said he’s […]

On the morning talk shows, one GOP member after another was asked about President Bush’s refusal to honor the request of John McCain in regards the Swiftie ads. Over and over, they wanted to change subject and claim Kerry had no plans regarding the Iraq mess. When reminded that Kerry has made statements as to […]

The NY Times’ Eduardo Porter asks a bunch of economists about the impact of the oil price shock on the economy. The bottom line turns out to be: Undoubtedly, the recent price surge will hurt. But maybe not that much. Most economists have only shaved their growth forecasts slightly. The 30 analysts polled by the […]

Stephen Moore and Phil Kerpen want the readers of today’s National Review to believe that the well to do are paying a lower effective tax rate only because their incomes fell: But the Left continues to work as best it can around these facts. The Kerry-Edwards campaign is now touting a new study by the […]

Postcards from Old Europe – When the past comes back to haunt you The current news backdrop reminds me of the situation faced by Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day. In the movie the main character is caught in a time loop and is forced to relive the same day over and over again. […]

Supply-side cheerleader Bob Novak complained yesterday that the Congressional Budget Office had produced “political fodder for Democrats” by reporting how Bush’s tax cuts have reduced the share of taxes paid by the rich. Novak offered a surprisingly accurate description of the CBO report: That study concluded that President Bush’s cuts had shifted more of the […]

I’m looking forward to my week of co-blogging over here. I thought I’d start by pointing out how Angry Bear beat the NY Times yesterday. Kash wrote that the pause in the rise of the cost of health insurance in the mid 1990s…was due to the one-time transformation of the majority of health insurance plans […]

The NYTimes has a story today on the rising cost of health insurance, and its role as a factor making firms reluctant to hire more workers. The price of health insurance has indeed risen remarkably fast recently, on par with the rates of increase in the early 1990s. The graph below also illustrates the pause […]

The good news for me is that I’m going on vacation. The good news for you, the reader, is that in addition to the regular flow of excellent content from Kash and PGL, The Chef from Ragout has graciously agreed to fill in for me. If you’re not familiar with his work, you’ll get a […]

In today’s Washington Post: Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry’s most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events. In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat […]