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February 27, 2009
Netroots Nation in Colorado
Tomorrow my husband and I will be attending our local Netroots Nation gathering, a one-day conference to discuss progressive politics in Colorado. I'll try to take some notes and some pictures so I can report back afterwards.
Posted by jnfr at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
The Party of No
More from Americans United for Change.
Posted by jnfr at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2009
Today's Must Read
Gail Collins in the NYTimes, on Bobby Jindal's hypocrisy.
Absent any deep thoughts, the Republicans are going to complain about waste. The high point of Jindal’s address came when he laced into "wasteful spending" in the stimulus bill, and used as an example a $140 million appropriation for keeping an eye on the volcanoes in places like Alaska, where one is currently rumbling.
"Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.," Jindal claimed.
I don’t know about you, but my reaction was: Wow, what a great stimulus plan. The most wasteful thing in it is volcano monitoring.
Louisiana has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid. How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana. Which is fine, as long as we don’t have to hear their governors bragging about how the folks who elected them want to keep their tax money to themselves. Of course they do! That’s because they’re living off ours.
Emphasis added by me. Read the whole thing. It's perfect.
Update: This is a good spot to link to the Tax Foundation's list of states and how much they give and receive in federal tax dollars.
Posted by jnfr at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2009
Jindal
Secretary of Casting Out Demons?
After listening to him last night, I don't think he's likely to be President.
Posted by jnfr at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2009
Total Collapse?
This video has started making the rounds. I'm putting it here for reference, but I need to listen a couple more times before I know what to say.
Posted by jnfr at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2009
Disapproval of what?
Gallup finds that people generally approve of President Obama's handling of the stimulus bill.
These findings, based on Gallup Poll interviews conducted Feb. 6-7, underscore the degree to which Obama appears to be maintaining the upper hand over his opponents from a public opinion perspective as he and congressional leaders wrangle over the precise form and substance of a new economic stimulus plan. (Recent Gallup polling also shows that a slight majority of Americans in general favor the idea of passing a stimulus plan of around $800 billion, a sentiment that has stayed constant over the last several weeks.)...
In addition, 51% of the people polled felt that passing the stimulus bill was critically important, with another 29% saying that it was important but not critical. Only 16% felt it was not that important. Not that this will stop the Republicans from obstructing this legislation as much as they can, but it should give them pause.
Posted by jnfr at 08:35 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2009
Please
Don't divorce my friends.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
Posted by jnfr at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2009
Obama is Clear
Speaking at the Department of Energy today, President Obama spoke strongly about why we cannot return to the Bush-era policies that got us into the mess we are in today.
...So let me be clear: Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed. They've taken us from surpluses to an annual deficit of over a trillion dollars, and they've brought our economy to a halt. And that's precisely what the election we just had was all about. The American people have rendered their judgment. And now is the time to move forward, not back. Now is the time for action....
He explained how the stimulus bill is going to begin to change our energy economy.
"...[T]his plan will begin to end the tyranny of oil in our time.
After decades of dragging our feet, this plan will finally spark the creation of a clean energy industry that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next few years, manufacturing wind turbines and solar cells, for example -- millions more after that. These jobs and these investments will double our capacity to generate renewable energy over the next few years.
We'll fund a better, smarter electricity grid and train workers to build it -- a grid that will help us ship wind and solar power from one end of this country to another. Think about it. The grid that powers the tools of modern life -- computers, appliances, even BlackBerrys -- (laughter) -- looks largely the same as it did half a century ago...."
I hear that the Senate might vote tonight. I hope they pass this bill swiftly.
Posted by jnfr at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2009
Obama Understands
President Obama had several interviews yesterday. This bit is from his interview on ABC News. He's talking with Charlie Gibson about the stimulus bill.
...The criticisms have generally been around some policy initiatives that were placed in the bill that I think are actually good policy, but some people may say is not going to actually stimulate jobs quickly enough. I think that there's legitimate room for working through those issues over the next several weeks to make sure that we get the best possible bill. But here's the thing that I think we have to understand. The economy is in desperate straits. What I won't do is adopt the same economic theories that helped land us in the worst economy since the Great Depression. What I will do is work with anybody of good faith to make sure that we can come up with the best possible package to not only create jobs and provide support to families, but also to lay the groundwork for long-term economic growth....
Emphasis added. Here's another bit.
Well, I think what Speaker Pelosi also said was that she wanted to sit down with them and talk to them and, in fact, included some of their ideas in the package. I mean, keep in mind, when I first released the framework for our plan, we were complimented by the Republicans for the fact that about $300 billion of the package was in the form of tax cuts. I was criticized by members of my own party.
Now, that hasn't changed much. The only thing that's changed is the politics of it. And I'm less concerned about bipartisanship for bipartisanship's sake. I'm interested in solving the problem for the American people as quickly as possible. And I think that we have an obligation to make sure this money is spent wisely. I want this thing to move through the Senate. I want the House and the Senate bills to be reconciled....
It's good that he is reality-based. But the Administration has made some definite errors in rolling out this stimulus bill. For one thing, they gave the Republicans far too much, far too fast, and didn't play enough hardball in negotiating various provisions. And while I agree with most of the longer-term provisions in the bill, they might have played out better if brought up separately.
But primarily they let the Republicans get far too much attention for their whining in the early news cycles around this bill. Think Progress has documented twice as many Republicans in the media in the days immediately after the bill was introduced. The Democrats should never have let that happen, and I hope they'll do better in the future with defining the contours of the discussion as it unfolds.
Posted by jnfr at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2009
Puppy Bowl V
Don't forget the day's best entertainment choice.
Kitty Half-time coming up soon!
Posted by jnfr at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)