WASHINGTON - Several times recently on "Morning Joe," the conversation has veered into why, as Joe Scarborough and others see it, the primary process weens out the best candidates, people like Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and others. Lamenting the current Republican field, the conversation has often revolved around the amateur hour we're all seeing unfold, however, … [Read more...] about Pres. Obama’s Charm Offensive with Jay Leno
James Carville’s Political Crystal Ball
So how does Bill Clinton's former -- and stellar --- political strategist see 2012 as shaping up? Can Herman Cain get the nomination? What does he think of Rick Perry? Mitt Romney? Who does he think will be the GOP nominee in the end? He recently talked with a conservative talk show host and gave THESE answers. … [Read more...] about James Carville’s Political Crystal Ball
Quote of the Day: The Shame and Political Negligence of Rick Perry
Our political Quote of the Day comes from the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin who notes how Texas Gov. Rick Perry smothered his own flat tax proposal with his goodbye-independent-voters comments on CNBC gleefully saying how using the birther issue against Barack Obama is politically useful and "fun." She also notes that he has also been denounced by some conservatives. It is … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: The Shame and Political Negligence of Rick Perry
RSAnimate: McGilchrist on the Divided Brain
Kathy Gill points to RSAnimate on the book I'm reading now, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World... In this new RSAnimate, renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how our 'divided brain' has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society. Taken from a lecture given by Iain McGilchrist as part of the … [Read more...] about RSAnimate: McGilchrist on the Divided Brain
Flat Tax or Flat-Out Dead (Guest Voice)
Flat Tax or Flat-Out Dead by Michael Reagan Despite the recent chatter about a flat income tax -- a tax that every income earner pays regardless of their level of income -- the idea is dead unless its supporters figure out a way to get together and support the idea that a flat tax is a fair tax. I believe we can unite. In a system of flat taxation there is only one … [Read more...] about Flat Tax or Flat-Out Dead (Guest Voice)
Too Big Too Fail Business
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The Piteous State Of These United States
Asked recently if the U.S. could build the Hoover Dam today, historian Michael Hiltzik doesn't hesitate to say that it probably could not. The Hoover Dam, of course, was built at the depths of the Great Depression, a magnificent monument to modern engineering, the bravery of its fearless hardhat builders and the "Can Do" ethic that not even the depression could vanquish. … [Read more...] about The Piteous State Of These United States
Scariest Political Commercial Ever
It ran only once 47 years ago, but a one-minute effort for LBJ’s 1964 reelection campaign was still being parsed this week at a college symposium as “the most negative political ad in American history.” During the network airing of a Hollywood biblical epic back then, amid cheery product pitches, suddenly there was the image of a little girl pulling petals from a daisy and … [Read more...] about Scariest Political Commercial Ever
Herman Cain’s Unusual (?) Stunning (?) Ad (NOT!)
I honestly don't see what the media hype swirling around this Herman Cain ad is all about. It features a boring blurb by Chief of Staff Mark Block that is unlikely to make one voter who doesn't want to already support Herman Cain decide to support Herman Cain. And monitoring the cable and broadcast talkers yesterday on XM radio (A MUST if you travel extensively by car as I am … [Read more...] about Herman Cain’s Unusual (?) Stunning (?) Ad (NOT!)
Mutinies Abound in the Republican Party
You’ve heard of the winter of discontent? Welcome to the autumn of mutinies. In the United States and beyond rebellion is in the air and those who aren’t rebellious enough could be forced to walk the political plank. The Republican Party is facing a mutiny and a counter mutiny. It’s 2011 Cain mutiny is led by Godfather Pizza’s likable former CEO, conservative Herman Cain, … [Read more...] about Mutinies Abound in the Republican Party
Eight Wheels & Eight Paws: What A Way To Go
PERCY, REX, NICKY & JACK AT THE MOUNTAIN RETREAT -- Having installed a passive solar power system at the mountain retreat that is paying dividends because our local utility has to buy our surplus electricity and we've got gobs of it, the next logical step in managing our lives more economically and environmentally friendly was to buy a hybrid vehicle. And so the DF&C … [Read more...] about Eight Wheels & Eight Paws: What A Way To Go
The Tale Of Two Swedish Meatballs
VOLVO 188ES: THE MOST BEAUTIOUS CAR EVAH My newborn children came home from the hospital in Volvos. I put 262,000 miles on one of them and it never failed to start, including one morning when the temperature had dipped below zero. It's marvelous four-cylinder turbo could really crank, and in the late 70s I once did 125 miles an hour on a long straightaway in the middle of … [Read more...] about The Tale Of Two Swedish Meatballs
World Economic Meltdown In 3 Minutes
Not sure if I want to laugh or cry … [Read more...] about World Economic Meltdown In 3 Minutes
The Anti-Revolution and the Void that Remains
Anti is a revolutionary prefix. When joined with the right name, system, or organization, it can change the course of a nation. Anti topples entrenched regimes and tyrannical dictatorships. Anti unites diverse factions under a shared purpose; a purpose often rooted in anger and frustration. Anti is seldom a solution for the future. Instead, it is a judgement on the past. … [Read more...] about The Anti-Revolution and the Void that Remains
The Laffer Curve and Last Laughs
There's nothing more contentious -- or the topic of sound bites -- than federal tax policy. Although Jude Wanniski, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, coined the term in 1974, the Laffer Curve made its way into the political lexicon with President Reagan's championship of supply-side economics and the Kemp-Roth Tax Cut of 1981. And now it's back, because Authur Laffer … [Read more...] about The Laffer Curve and Last Laughs
Perry ‘Flirting with Birtherism.’ Perhaps Leonard Pitts was right.(UPDATE: ‘Just Joshing’)
A few months ago, I commented on a piece by Pulitzer Prize winner Leonard Pitts at the Miami Herald calling birthers "morons,'' ''jackasses," "imbeciles," "idiots,'' "doofuses" and "pinheads." He also called the birther movement "not just claptrap, but profoundly racist claptrap." I said, “While I agree with Pitts on the claptrap, I would not call the birthers morons, … [Read more...] about Perry ‘Flirting with Birtherism.’ Perhaps Leonard Pitts was right.(UPDATE: ‘Just Joshing’)
Quote of the Day: Jeb Bush Tells Rick Perry to Knock It Off On Obama Birtherism (UPDATED)
Our political Quote of the Day is not unexpected. Jeb Bush has basically told Texas Gov. Rick Perry to knock it off on re-raising the birther "issue": "Republican candidates should categorically reject the notion that President Obama was not born in the United States. It is a complete distraction from the failed economic policies of the President." Bush is correct. … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Jeb Bush Tells Rick Perry to Knock It Off On Obama Birtherism (UPDATED)
Cain Leads Romney in New CBS News/NY Times Poll as Romney Faces New Political Pitfall
Former Godfathers' Pizza CEO Herman Cain is now showing he can deliver more than pizza and refurbished pizza franchise stores: he has delivered a big, fat, pie of problems for up-until-now front runner Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He is now leading in a major CBS News/NYTimes poll -- as Romney finds himself enmeshed in a political controversy that could further hurt him with … [Read more...] about Cain Leads Romney in New CBS News/NY Times Poll as Romney Faces New Political Pitfall
Perry the Clown
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Perry the Clown
What America Means To Me
I will reveal here a controversial assertion that is -- if not explicitly denied, then most assuredly implicitly trampled upon in common practice -- as deceptively and seductively simple as it seems: words actually mean something, and what they mean matters. Note the Liberty [Phrygian] Cap on pole I will grant the Opposition's case that in point of fact words are useless … [Read more...] about What America Means To Me