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PoliGAF After Party Thread of Harsh Realities

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soul creator said:
colmkbtwluu9.gif
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Ha! I don't believe it . . . they got his birthday wrong. Fake!


BTW, :lol :lol :lol .
 
charlequin said:
The criticism of Bush on deficit spending has largely originated from two specific areas: that he ran huge deficits even during periods where (nominally) the economy was healthy, and that his deficit spending was used to fund programs of minimal economic or direct benefit to most citizens (an unnecessary war, tax cuts for only the richest people, etc.)
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Bush outspent every president since LBJ. Even if you take out the War on Terra you still have to go back to the Great Society to find a bigger spender.

With that in mind, I'll admit that if Big Government is a given, I'll take the liberal version over the neocon version any day.

The tax cuts weren't the problem though. Tax revenues during Bush's second term were at their highest levels ever. One can think simplistically and assume that earnings would be the same regardless of tax rates and thus tax receipts would be even higher had his tax cuts not gone through, but that's a simpleton's view.

Undertaxation isn't the problem, overspending is. If/when we get out of a recession, it'll be interesting to see if Obama curtails spending to pay down the debt.
 
Mayor Bloomberg (a former republican) has just came out in support of Caroline Kennedy replacing Hillary in the senate. Seems like the entire NY political system is ralling around her.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg offered useful support to the notion of Caroline Kennedy's filling Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, the AP reports.

Bloomberg said she is experienced and "can do anything."

They're helpful words because the knock on Kennedy, who has a law degree and has done some writing, is her thin public record. Her highest profile position, aside from her role as John F. Kennedy's daughter, was raising money for Bloomberg's school system.
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http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Bloomberg_boosts_Kennedy_.html?showall

As someone who was one the few on GAF to really like Hillary (although I backed Obama) I gotta say this is a BIG step up from Hillary. She is a good deal more liberal than Hillary and doesn't have as much as an ego as her.
 
Tamanon said:
I don't like it personally.

I really like Caroline, but it sets a really bad precedent.
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Agree. I kind of agree with Kos' tirade this morning, and I tend to laugh when he goes into ranting mode.
 
Cheebs said:
Mayor Bloomberg (a former republican) has just came out in support of Caroline Kennedy replacing Hillary in the senate. Seems like the entire NY political system is ralling around her.


http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Bloomberg_boosts_Kennedy_.html?showall

As someone who was one the few on GAF to really like Hillary (although I backed Obama) I gotta say this is a BIG step up from Hillary. She is a good deal more liberal than Hillary and doesn't have as much as an ego as her.
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The guy who flip flops on term limits supports political dynasties. Surprise, Surprise.
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
caroline kennedy 2016

i'm calling it now
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I'd be shocked if she doesn't. 8 years in the senate and the daughter of a beloved president? Not much better place to be in in 2016. It is like the inverse of dubya in 2000.
 
Cheebs said:
I'd be shocked if she doesn't. 8 years in the senate and the daughter of a beloved president? Not much better place to be in in 2016. It is like the inverse of dubya in 2000.
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Hot spicy Nepotism.
 
Mayors ask for infrastructure money

One by one, mayors from some of the nation's largest cities stepped up to a Capitol Hill podium today to ask Congress for money for infrastructure projects they argue will create jobs and spark an economic recovery.

U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, rumored to be in consideration for a spot as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said 427 cities have come up with 11,000 projects that with federal funding could immediately get underway.

"We must invest in Main Street,” he said. “We're not here for a bailout; we're here to help out Americans.”

According to Diaz, infrastructure projects such as road improvements and mass transit upgrades could create 848,000 jobs with the investment of $73 billion from the federal government.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued that cities are on the "front lines" of the financial crisis. Federal investment in urban infrastructure projects would create "benefits that would ripple through the entire economy," and get the economy "back on track," Bloomberg said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the group's recovery plan represents "the best hope for America in these times."

Mayor Doug Palmer, of Trenton, N.J., added, "We don't need a bailout; we're talking about a build out."

Palmer said later this week he would have to lay off nearly 100 people.

"People who truly need jobs -- that's why there is a sense of urgency right now," he said.
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http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/08/1702660.aspx

I wouldn't be surprised to see most if not all of these get funded.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Agree. I kind of agree with Kos' tirade this morning, and I tend to laugh when he goes into ranting mode.
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The funny part is that Caroline Kennedy's probably more qualified to be a Senator than Ned Lamont is.

Hell, if she lived in CT, they'd probably be begging her to run!
 
thefro said:
The funny part is that Caroline Kennedy's probably more qualified to be a Senator than Ned Lamont is.

Hell, if she lived in CT, they'd probably be begging her to run!
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But Lamont was running against Lieberman. A banana would have the net roots excited if it was running against Liebeman.
 
Charred Greyface said:
? what's the precedent?
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Having a name that people associate with is a replacement for legislative contribution. This isn't a house seat, this is a Senate seat in a talent-rich area.
 
Tamanon said:
Having a name that people associate with is a replacement for legislative contribution. This isn't a house seat, this is a Senate seat in a talent-rich area.
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Oi, I got the link from the person I heard it from (edited my earlier post 'cos I wasn't sure if my info was correct). I'm not saying it's a good thing; just that it's not unprecedented. Anyway, Gleen Greenwald:

Nepotistic succession in the political class
Meanwhile, in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, who was appointed by her father to take his seat in the U.S. Senate when he became Governor, yesterday warned Sarah Palin not to challenge her in a 2010 primary, a by-product of tension between those two as a result of Palin's defeat of Lisa's dad for Governor.

The Senate alone -- to say nothing of the House -- is literally filled with people whose fathers or other close relatives previously held their seat or similar high office (those links identify at least 15 current U.S. Senators -- 15 -- with immediate family members who previously occupied high elected office).
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Greenwald the post has most of the words in that paragraph hyperlinked
 
Jon Kyl, Arizona
Judd Gregg, New Hampshire
Chris Dodd, Connecticut
John Sununu, New Hampshire (lost to Jeanne Shahee though)
Evan Bayh, Indiana
Robert Casey Jr., Pennsylvania
Tom Udall, New Mexico (just won)
Olympia Snowe, Maine
Elizabeth Dole, North Carolina (lost to Kay Hagan though)
Mark Pryor, Arkansas
Bob Bennett, Utah
Hillary Clinton, New York
Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia
Mark Udall, Colorado (just won)

wow, thats a lot of legacy senators.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Agree. I kind of agree with Kos' tirade this morning, and I tend to laugh when he goes into ranting mode.
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Like said before she is more qualiied than lamont was. Or franken. Guess what? Ted Kennedy was given jfk's seat with no experience based purely on family. And he ended up being one of the best dem senators in history. The kennedys are no bush family. John, bobby, and ted all were fantastic senators. The netroots hate insiders. Even good liberals like the kennedys. Do they forget how they adopted obama and helped him loads?
 
GhaleonEB said:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/08/1702660.aspx

I wouldn't be surprised to see most if not all of these get funded.
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I would be surprised if public transit gets half of the funding they are asking. Most of the country still sees public transit as a minority only affair and most of the country still thinks walking is for peasants.

Anyone know the nickname for MARTA?

On a side not Obama has not made a single, even passing reference to public transit since he has been elected, only roads and bridges.
 
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/08/rove-vows-to-name-names/

Rove vows to 'name names'

(CNN) – Enemies of President Bush take heed: Karl Rove is set to name names.

The man widely credited with Bush's two presidential victories says his new book will include an accounting of those in Washington who never accepted the president as a legitimate commander-in-chief.

"I've got behind-the-scenes episodes that are going to show how unreceiving they were of this man as president of the United States," Rove told Cox News in an interview published Sunday. "I'm going to name names and show examples."

Rove signed a deal with publishing giant Simon & Schuster last year, reported be worth over $1.5 million.

In the wide-ranging interview, Rove also suggested the criticisms the president and his aides took were partly because they were not part of the Washington establishment.

"You'll notice there was outrage when it was thought that I was the person behind outing Valerie Plame. And then when it came out that it was the sainted [Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage, there was no interest," Rove said. "I don't remember seeing anybody camped out on his doorstep like they were camped out on mine. [It's]because he was part of the acceptable culture of Washington, and I was not. I was one of those Texans who came up. He was one of those perpetual I'll-scratch-your-back-if-you'll-scratch-mine Washington leakers. "
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:lol my view of whoever he names will actually improve!
 
Cheebs said:
Like said before she is more qualiied than lamont was. Or franken. Guess what? Ted Kennedy was given jfk's seat with no experience based purely on family. And he ended up being one of the best dem senators in history. The kennedys are no bush family. John, bobby, and ted all were fantastic senators. The netroots hate insiders. Even good liberals like the kennedys. Do they forget how they adopted obama and helped him loads?
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Lamot and Franken participated in elections though. The point is that picking based on family name is undemocratic, doesn't matter how good the choice is if it was forced on you. And giving Caroline a senate seat as payback for supporting Obama is surreal...
 
Gallbaro said:
Anyone know the nickname for MARTA?
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Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta.

When I lived in downtown Atlanta I used it a lot. Fantastic for going to / from events at the arena or Georgia Dome, and great service to / from the airport.

Problem for most Atlanta residents is that they're all surburbanites who live half an hour north of Atlanta proper. MARTA service to the southern suburbs was better because of the route to the airport, going north out of the city wasn't a good.

I'd guess that's the problem with public transportation in general. Much of the country lives outside of cities and commutes in to work. My previous employer thought nothing of changing your work location to someplace an hour away because most of my coworkers already did 1+ hour commutes. Every time I got an apartment close to work the bastards moved my job someplace an hour away.

EDIT: I suppose the rampant racism in Atlanta on all sides of the fence makes MARTA less attractive as well. Easily the most rascist city I've ever lived in. Whites hate blacks, blacks hate whites, everyone hates brown, etc. Couldn't wait to get out of there.
 
Gallbaro said:
I would be surprised if public transit gets half of the funding they are asking. Most of the country still sees public transit as a minority only affair and most of the country still thinks walking is for peasants.

Anyone know the nickname for MARTA?

On a side not Obama has not made a single, even passing reference to public transit since he has been elected, only roads and bridges.
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That's true, he's mentioned public transit many times before. It will be interesting to see the composition of the funding when it's finally announced.
 
Tyrone Slothrop said:
i was going to reply to this yesterday but my console went kaput....

i think you're kind of buying into the myth that kerry was this sort of loser, a weak candidate. he's no obama, but he did pretty good.

bush-rove did a flawless job of manipulating people with fear, it can't be overstated enough. 2001-04 seems like a decade ago now - we didn't even have youtube back then - but even bright people legitimately thought terrorists were lurking around every corner. "yeah that bush guy is kinda sketchy, but dear god what about the children, i dont wanna die, ect."

i'm sure it would've helped had the democratic candidate not seemed so... cosmopolitan, for lack of a better word, but kerry did alright at turning out the votes. he was no dukakis or mondale.
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I never said he was as bad as Mondale, who as I said was simply horrible, but I think the comparison to Dukakis is quite apt really. Unlike Mondale, both ran in races that were very winnable for a good enough Democratic candidate. Both had a great deal of difficulty making decisions quickly, which was responsible for a lot of their troubles. Both ran against an unpopular politician (Bush 1 due to his lack of charisma and reluctance to campaign, Bush 2 due to his sheer idiocy). Both were ruthlessly attacked by that politician in order to drive their unfavorables even lower than their own, masterminded by a genius campaign strategist (Atwater and Rove), and although this is mostly a coincidence both suffered heavily from attacks on their military records. Both failed to adequately respond and defend themselves from the attacks, and neither had enough charisma to offer a compelling case for people to vote for them. And, unsurprisingly, both lost. So yeah, while Mondale is a stretch I think it's very reasonable to compare Kerry to Dukakis, and it's a testament to how much more hated W. was than his father that Kerry didn't lose by a similar margin, at least in the popular vote.
 
quadriplegicjon said:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/08/rove-vows-to-name-names/

Rove vows to 'name names'

:lol my view of whoever he names will actually improve!
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No fan of Rove, but he's got a point about the Plame / Armitage thing. I remember liberal friends of mine giddy at the thought of Rove being escorted from the Capital in handcuffs, even Photoshopping pictures of the impending event.

Once it came out that it wasn't Rove the subject seemed to die overnight.
 
TomServo said:
No fan of Rove, but he's got a point about the Plame / Armitage thing. I remember liberal friends of mine giddy at the thought of Rove being escorted from the Capital in handcuffs, even Photoshopping pictures of the impending event.

Once it came out that it wasn't Rove the subject seemed to die overnight.
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I don't think liberals hate him because he wasn't "a Washington insider"...
 
Dax01 said:
Why isn't Obama planning to enact the taxes on the oil companies anymore?
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He is still going to repeal the tax breaks on the oil companies. He dropped the windfall profits tax idea in October, when oil prices crashed back down to earth. The idea was a windfall profits tax if oil stayed above $80/barrel, which it didn't.
 
Dax01 said:
Why isn't Obama planning to enact the taxes on the oil companies anymore?
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because it will give the oil companies an excuse to raise oil prices in a recession. once we are out of the recession, he will do it.
 
OBAMA: yes we fucking can!

Stocks Rally Worldwide, Dow Hits 1-Month High on Obama Plan

- Stocks rose around the world, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a one-month high, as President-elect Barack Obama pledged to boost the economy with the biggest public-works spending package since the 1950s.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its gain from an 11-year low last month to 21 percent. U.S. Steel Corp. and Alcoa Inc. climbed at least 17 percent, while Chevron Corp. added 4.9 percent, as Obama’s plan to increase infrastructure spending triggered gains in commodities. General Motors Corp. jumped 21 percent as lawmakers agreed in principle with the White House to provide funds to shore up the car industry.
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“There’s an awareness now that this is across the board,” Laszlo Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates Inc. in Westport, Connecticut, told Bloomberg Television. “A Band-Aid here and a Band-Aid there is not going to form a solution. You’ve got to really take some dramatic action, and I think that’s what investors are responding to today.”
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You guys have to read this opinion piece from my local paper in St. Louis. The author's e-mail address is at the bottom, too.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...718DE70F271161918625750D0083A966?OpenDocument

A plan to survive the Obama years

BY Z. DWIGHT BILLINGSLY

11/27/2008


As Jack Buck once said, "I don't believe what I just saw!" Americans on Nov. 4 turned over control of the United States of America to a management team possessing no executive experience, having never run, as I liked to put it, nothing.

Well, Americans usually get the government they deserve, and I urge you all to get ready for this 21st century version of amateur hour. It's going to be an embarrassing and dangerous time for America and American ideals. There won't be much, I'm afraid, to be thankful for.

Bill Kristol, writing in The Weekly Standard, reminded me that every 16 years we get a Democrat president with no experience in national security or international affairs who's elected after Republican presidents have made and kept America safe: After Eisenhower, we got Kennedy; after Nixon/Ford, we got Carter; after Reagan/Bush, we got Clinton. And after Bush II, we get Barack Obama.

Every strong Republican president who succeeded in protecting America has allowed Americans to become complacent about national security, thereby opening the door for weak Democrats who allowed enemies to threaten and attack America without penalty. Obama will be no different, and Americans will have to learn again that there can be no economic security without national security.

That's not to say that Obama's election doesn't come with a couple of interesting side effects. For example, henceforth no black man in America may be called unqualified for any job that he might seek, no matter his prior education or experience level. Want to be a nuclear scientist but lack a Ph.D. in physics? If the applicant is a black man, it's no problem. Just offer hope to the profession and promise change from all those stuffy theorems that have given the discipline its structure over the years, and you're in.

That's on a par with throwing out the fact that tax cuts lead to more investment, job creation and increasing government revenues, just because the black man, that transcendent agent of change, says it's OK.

Another side effect has been white people contacting me to say that I should be proud to see a black man become president. Could there be a comment that is more condescending, more insulting, than that? If I believed that in America a black man could not be president, then I would be proud to see any black man elected president. But because I always have believed that nothing in America prevents a black man from becoming president or anything else he wants to be, I can be embarrassed, not proud, to see someone as unqualified and inexperienced as Obama become president.

Jackie Robinson, the first black man in modern-day major league baseball, illustrates my point. He was the right man with the right combination of talent, temperament and character at the right time to be successful for that important "first." Obama? An empty suit who will fail.

I'm going to approach the Obama years the same way liberals handled the Iraq war. Just as they claimed to support our troops while opposing the war, I'm going to support my country while opposing Obama and what he stands for in every way that I can. It's only four years and with the astute Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as Senate minority leader, Republicans can stop the Obama extremists for two years until mid-term elections in 2010 give Republicans the boost in Congress that inevitably will come.

And in 2012, we'll have Sarah Palin to clean up Obama's mess and remind us again of America's exceptionalism.

Z. Dwight Billingsly is a principal of Branford Gateway Investment Co. and a financial services industry specialist for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. He serves as co-chair of the Missouri Spectrum political action committee, an auxiliary of the Missouri Republican Party.

E-mail: zdbcomment@gmail.com
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do your worst, GAF
 
The Lamonster said:
You guys have to read this opinion piece from my local paper in St. Louis. The author's e-mail address is at the bottom, too.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...718DE70F271161918625750D0083A966?OpenDocument




do your worst, GAF
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But all it is is his opinion, not a full out front page article, that is why it is an opinion entry. It could say the complete opposite but its still an opinion, there is nothing really to complain about or attack, all it is is his opinion versus yours. Now if it was a front page article, I could see some controversy, but its not.
 
It seems David Gregory has been scrubbed from all the intro graphics on 1600. Looks like David Shuster may be taking over.

Also Nancy Pelosi is looking very "Michael Jackson"-esque lately... She needs to lay off the face lifts and botox. She's looking scary.
 
CrazedArabMan said:
But all it is is his opinion, not a full out front page article, that is why it is an opinion entry. It could say the complete opposite but its still an opinion, there is nothing really to complain about or attack, all it is is his opinion versus yours. Now if it was a front page article, I could see some controversy, but its not.
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? Are you saying opinions don't matter and they shouldn't be challenged? Now that would be a stupid opinion.
 
Charred Greyface said:
? Are you saying opinions don't matter and they shouldn't be challenged? Now that would be a stupid opinion.
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I think it's just one dude's opinion and he's clearly so far gone that there's no point. It would be like arguing with posts from hillaryis44.com. He thinks Sarah Palin will come and save us in four years. I mean, that speaks for itself.
 
Charred Greyface said:
? Are you saying opinions don't matter and they shouldn't be challenged? Now that would be a stupid opinion.
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Uh no, I don't know how you got that out of what I said but whatever. I was more saying everyone has their own opinion on the issue, all this was was just an opinion article post, yeah you can comment on it but after all is said and done, sending him e-mails (which I think what the poster was saying to do) is kinda silly, why waist your time giving him a piece of your mind when this article effects very few and he won't change is stance. I'm not doing this to protect the guy, it could of been a post praising Obama but I think this was written mostly just to get readers. But that is just my opinion. ;)
 
quadriplegicjon said:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/08/rove-vows-to-name-names/

Rove vows to 'name names'




:lol my view of whoever he names will actually improve!
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And then they will be viewed as heroes

Cheebs said:
I'd be shocked if she doesn't. 8 years in the senate and the daughter of a beloved president? Not much better place to be in in 2016. It is like the inverse of dubya in 2000.
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This is almost as shitty of an idea as your hope that Matthews runs for senate.
 
Gallbaro said:
I would be surprised if public transit gets half of the funding they are asking. Most of the country still sees public transit as a minority only affair and most of the country still thinks walking is for peasants.

Anyone know the nickname for MARTA?

On a side not Obama has not made a single, even passing reference to public transit since he has been elected, only roads and bridges.
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I actually don't think that's true.
 
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