“If there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing.” – David Stockman, a director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan
And thus the thorough indictment of the GOP’s economic and budgetary shamelessness begins. Stockman, who knows a thing or seven about putting together a budget as a Republican, holds nothing back in his New York Times Op-Ed. (more…)
There’s plenty of talk these days about the growing federal budget deficit. Almost as much as Lindsay Lohan’s DUI trial, but strangely less than Zsa Zsa Gabor’s broken hip. (Zsa Zsa is a national treasure, clearly our country’s priorities are grossly out of whack.)
Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and co-chairmen of President Obama’s debt and deficit commission, went so far as to call the debt a “cancer”. (Also the way he described Lohan.)
A nice take in the NYT on the ever-morphing class of political pundits in general, and their reaction to President Obama’s speech on the BP spill in particular.
Perhaps it’s time for the President to stop worrying so much about being a consensus-builder, and move forward in the confidence that the better half of the American conscience will follow. Sort of like being “the decider,” except this one actually reads newspapers and uses the interwebs.
Whatever direction Obama goes, this could be a critical point in his presidency – akin to when Clinton moved beyond the health care debacle of his first term.
It’s the ideal CZ-style move – and the people of California have apparently passed Proposition 14, which would radically change elections in the nation’s biggest state, and its trend-setting bellweather, to boot.
Though Prop. 14 will likely be challenged by a cadre of attorneys, much like Props 215 and 187 were tied up in court. But the inspiration is undeniable. Essentially, this new law, if it sticks, will allow an open primary between members of all parties, with the top two vote getters getting to face off in the general election.
A nice piece by Mickey Edwards here on the “purity” struggle underway in the GOP. It’s a bold undertaking, what with Utah Republican Bob Bennett losing for…wait for it….not being conservative enough!
If Utah Republicans aren’t “conservative” enough, what’s next, Massachussets Dems being accused of excessive centrism? Up is down, left is right, and John Wayne is wearing a dress.
Demographics are destiny, folks – in addition to staying on good terms with our Chinese overlords, it’d be a good move for the GOP to at least not completely crap the bed with the Latino vote in the years and decades to come. Immigration reform (real reform, not the roll-over-and-cave sham passed in the Reagan Era) isn’t an impossible message to sell. But unless it’s packaged correctly, anything smacking of xenophobia and ethnic tribalism will not be worth the blowback in the long run.
A good read here from Newsweek’s Robert Samuelson who, at the end of the day, is always a no-frills choice for some high-fiber economic insight.
The money quote, which really frames things nicely: (more…)
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Gulf oil spill is Obama’s big moment – and he’s squandering it
A very nice read from the NYT’s Tom Friedman here on the opportunities Obama has in the wake of the disastrous Gulf Oil Spill.
Freidman touches on the Obama administration’s thinned-out political capital to get behind real reform (thanks to the health care battle, from which November will likely extract a cost). But even though direct legislation may be a dicey affair for the Dems to get behind, people are mad. Whether it’s the citizens and business brutally affected by the spill or a nation tired of asking ourselves why we continue our addition to Big Oil, the time to swing the hammer on alternative energy is now. (more…)