Prometheus 6 - Politics

Agent Brooks reporting...everything is going according to plan

Sat, 19 Mar 2005 06:39:50 -0500

By DAVID BROOKS

If you want an image that captures what American politics will be like over the next few decades, imagine two waves crashing down upon us simultaneously, each magnifying the damage caused by the other.

The first wave is the exploding cost of the entitlement programs. The second wave is the ever-increasing polarization of the political class. The polarization will make it impossible to reach an agreement on how to fix the entitlements problem. Meanwhile the vicious choices forced on us by entitlement costs will make the polarization even worse.

Serious progressives will not rag on these people

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 14:20:08 -0500

Roxie at Rox Populi opened a door that Travis at Prolix and Michelle at A Small Victory stepped through.

Do not fuck with the folks that are working this out.

I got shit to do, so I'm going to quote me.

The armies of the Culture Wars are suiting up. People are listening to pundits extrapolate from admittedly flawed polls about their own nature, and the nature of the other. We, the armchair footsoldiers, choose up sides and lambaste each other mercilessly for the words of the leaders of our parties.

Before we get lost in the frenzy, though, I have a request. Something I'd seriously like you to do.

Forget about politics and racism and economics and high principle for a while. Think about your everyday life. People you know, things you do, places you hang out

just
regular
stuff.

Think about it in ideal terms. What would you like your everyday life to be like?

Hold that ideal in your mind for a while because that is what you should be fighting for. Not a political party, not a social policy or sense of personal outrage. Certainly nothing as petty as a sense of personal triumph or despair over someone else's actions.

You should hold that ideal strongly enough that you don't forget it when choosing a tactic. Strongly enough to remember it every time you make a promise. You should attend to the real concerns of your life and let the political games take place in whatever time is left.

I want you to do that because in the end I'm confident that the world that will support what I need, will support what you need too. In fact, I'm confident that our needs will coincide and our desires nearly so. We will differ in how we pursue our desires because we have different knowledge and learned different techniques.

But we want the same things. And I want you to take a long, clear look at those things, understand clearly what you need and want. And from there you can take the conversation wherever you like.

Slow down, take a deep breath

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 09:14:39 -0500

Yeah, Tom DeLay got grief and it could spread to infect other Republicans, but I think the L.A. Times overstates the case a bit.

The split in the intellectual soul of the conservative movement could change long-term thinking. But it's nothing compared with the volcano that will ensue if Republicans lose seats in 2006 because of DeLay.

If Republicans lose seats it will be blamed on DeLay regardless of the actual reason. But if Republicans do lose seats over DeLay it will result in a shifting of personnel, not direction, in the Conservative movement.

The far more interesting thing the editorial mentioned is that intellectual split because it can change the movement's direction...more accurately, its importance.

Don't celebrate yet...there's still 49 Republican Senators with no conscience

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 07:25:48 -0500

Senate Rejects Bush's Cuts
It narrowly approves a $2.6-trillion budget as four Republicans break ranks. A confrontation with the House over its fiscal plan is expected.
By Joel Havemann
Times Staff Writer
March 18, 2005

WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday voted to restore cuts sought by President Bush in Medicaid, education and other domestic programs, and then approved a $2.6-trillion budget for fiscal year 2006.

The vote on the budget was 51-49.

The Senate's actions set up a confrontation with the House, which earlier Thursday approved its own version of the budget — one that hews more closely to Bush's initial spending and tax proposals.

Running for Mayor, are we?

Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:03:40 -0500

I understand, Fernando.

Ferrer Takes Defensive After Comments on Diallo Killing
By DIANE CARDWELL and JONATHAN P. HICKS

Fernando Ferrer, who is campaigning for mayor of New York, was on the defensive yesterday as Democratic leaders sharply rebuked him for telling members of a police union that the shooting of Amadou Diallo was not a crime and that there was an attempt to "over-indict" the police officers responsible.

The thought that there's thousands of heavily armed and identically dressed people walking around the city actively disliking you can be a bit...unmanning.

So much for extending the "ownership society"

Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:20:46 -0500

Fears for a Program That Lends Just a Little
By ELIZABETH OLSON

Since the beginning of the 1990's, thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have moved away from unemployment or welfare by borrowing a few thousand dollars - even as little as $500 - to set up their own small business.

Diane Holloway, a single mother and out-of-work pastry chef, used a $5,000 loan from a local women's economic agency in Silver City, N.M., several years ago to cobble together a restaurant in an old storefront, cooking for customers with a scavenged pizza oven and serving them on a half-dozen mismatched tables.

"That money made the difference," said Mrs. Holloway, whose restaurant, Diane's, is now thriving, with 30 employees. She plans to open two more restaurants next year. "Without it, I wouldn't have had a chance to get my business going."

I'm not gonna tell you...na-nana-googoo!

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:52:06 -0500

Bush Says He Won't Offer Specifics on Social Security
Wed Mar 16, 2005 02:29 PM ET
By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Wednesday he would not unveil a detailed proposal to overhaul Social Security, his top domestic priority, anytime soon because Congress would probably reject it.

But Bush told a news conference he would not back down from his push to create private accounts for Social Security despite polls showing a lack of public enthusiasm even after he has spent weeks traveling the country to promote the notion.

"The first bill on the Hill always is dead on arrival," Bush said. "I have not laid out a plan yet, intentionally," he said. "I'm interested in coming up with a permanent solution. I'm not interested in playing political games," he said.

I think they're looking forward to it

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 12:06:19 -0500

Senate near meltdown over judges
A vote on nominee William Myers may be a rehearsal for a next Supreme Court justice.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON - Thursday's vote on the first of President Bush's blocked judicial nominees sets up a test of a "nuclear option" whose fallout could effectively bring the US Senate to a stop for the balance of the 109th Congress - and affect the balance on US courts for decades.

The pitched partisan battle revolves around a change in rules that seem arcane, but the impact could reach a wide range of issues before US federal courts, from consumer and environmental protections to civil liberties and the role of government in the post-9/11 era.

That's a huge task you've set before yourself, Tim

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:57:43 -0500

The Fleischer Watch
Introducing an ongoing inquiry into dishonest or insane assertions buried inside Ari Fleischer's White House memoir.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2005, at 2:09 PM PT

In his new book, Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary, lays out various "biases and predilections" of "the liberal press." Among these is its 'belief that government is a mechanism to solve the nation's problems," its insistence that "emotional examples of suffering are good ways to illustrate economic statistic stories," and its tendency to stay "fixated on the unemployment rate." Fleischer might just as well have complained that the press believes the Earth revolves around the sun.

Yes, partisanship is at the root of the investigation...DeLay's partisanship

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:36:26 -0500

At least he didn't lie...

Quote of note:

But in unusually blunt criticism, he attacked The Washington Post for its coverage of his trips. In the case of one story about the England trip, he accused the paper of a "zeal to leave readers with the false impression that I did something that I did not do."

I'd like to hear him explain exactly what was in that article that wasn't true.

Anyway...

DeLay Blames Partisanship for Uproar
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay Blames Partisanship for Hubbub Regarding Overseas Travel
By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press

Mar. 16, 2005 - A defiant House Majority Leader Tom DeLay blamed partisanship and innuendo Tuesday for the uproar surrounding his overseas travel, but Republicans reported stirrings of concern over his political durability.

Oooooookaaaayyyyy.....

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 19:04:52 -0500

Quote of note:

The legal counsel's office "does not agree with GAO that the covert propaganda prohibition applies simply because an agency's role in producing and disseminating information is undisclosed or 'covert,' regardless of whether the content of the message is 'propaganda,' " Bradbury wrote. "Our view is that the prohibition does not apply where there is no advocacy of a particular viewpoint, and therefore it does not apply to the legitimate provision of information concerning the programs administered by an agency."

So. The prohibition on covert propaganda doesn't apply to covertly produced propaganda.

And those films did not advocate a particular point of view.

such balls...

Administration Rejects Ruling On PR Videos
GAO Called Tapes Illegal Propaganda

These guys might have a Type 1 economist laying around

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:16:22 -0500

Group Leaves Social Security Overhaul Bloc
The move by Financial Services Forum is the latest indication of the dual pressures facing corporations in Bush's drive to revamp system.
By Peter Wallsten
Times Staff Writer
March 15, 2005

WASHINGTON — Signaling more troubles ahead for President Bush's campaign to overhaul Social Security, a group representing the nation's biggest financial companies said Monday that it had decided not to renew its membership in a business coalition raising millions of dollars to back the effort.

The Financial Services Forum, which represents chief executives from such corporate heavyweights as American Express, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, was a co-founder of the Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security, or Compass. But it left the coalition last month after its members failed to agree on Bush's plan to let workers divert some of their payroll tax into individual investment accounts.

Depends on what you mean by "power"

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:34:18 -0500

Quote of note:

Because of Bush's strong support, many predict Rice will be an unusually powerful secretary. She is likely to face less competition in influencing foreign policy from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who is focusing on internal Pentagon reform.

When driving a nail, what owns the force...the head of the hammer or the arm that wields it? Dr. Rice is a hammer.

Anyway...

Rice Reshaping Foreign Policy
The secretary of State is displaying an affinity for quick action and a dislike for nuanced talk.
By Paul Richter
Times Staff Writer
March 15, 2005

WASHINGTON — Condoleezza Rice began her term as secretary of State with a tour of Europe and the Middle East last month that showed off her skills as a fence mender. The weeks that followed have revealed another side of her style.

Just couldn't stay away

Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:15:18 -0500

Former NAACP Leader to Run for Senate
Former NAACP Leader Kweisi Mfume to Run for U.S. Senate in 2006 in Bid to Replace Paul Sarbanes

By GRETCHEN PARKER

The Associated Press

Mar. 14, 2005 - Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume announced Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2006.

"It is with great pride and deep humility that I announce to you today my candidacy for the Senate of the United States," Mfume said at a news conference in Baltimore.

"I can't be bought. I won't be intimidated. I don't know how to quit," Mfume said as his supporters applauded.

Mfume, who was a five-term U.S. congressman before becoming president of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, issued the statement after incumbent Paul Sarbanes announced Friday that he will not run for re-election.

Doing a little groundwork

Mon, 14 Mar 2005 12:51:56 -0500

Just as the real politicking means talking to real people face to face, impacting the media requires old-fashioned media contact. And don't be fooled by Drudge etc.; their media contacts took place long ago, and some of them have been subsidized from their beginning.

Quote of note:

"The way we perceive it," he said, "is that right-wing bloggers are able to invent stories, get them out on Drudge, get them on Rush Limbaugh, get them on Fox, and pretty soon that spills over into the mainstream media. We, the progressives, we don't have that kind of network to work with."

Liberal Bloggers Reaching Out to Major Media
By JONATHAN D. GLATER