Quote of the day

Marcus Davies, an official of the Saskatchewan Medical Society, on the difference between Canadians and Americans:
Us Canadians, we’re kind of understated by nature.  We don’t go around chanting ‘We’re No. 1!’ But you know, there are two areas where we feel superior to the U.S.: hockey and health care.”
The quote comes from an article in [...]

Earmarks

Big news of the day (via AP):
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, sounding weary of criticism over federal earmarks, defended Congress’ pet projects Wednesday as he signed an “imperfect” $410 billion measure with thousands of examples. But he said the spending does need tighter restraint and listed guidelines to do it. Obama, accused of hypocrisy by [...]

Zombie Republicans

According to Republicans  the stimulus bill that just passed the House is nothing more than a monstrous pork fest for Democratic pet causes.  It has nothing to do with addressing our economic crisis.    Among the spending projects that Republicans object to:

Amtrak– $1 billion
Child care centers — $2 billion
National Endowment for the Arts — $50 [...]

Lists

Here is one of those lists that tells us more about the list maker than the listed.  Forbes puts forth their list of The 25 Most Influential Liberals In The U.S. Media and it includes a number of  people I recognize and admire:  Kevin Drum (23), Josh Marshall (8), Matthew Yglesias (16), Jon Stewart (5), [...]

Not Fannie!!!! Arghhhhhhhhh….

OK.  Anderson Cooper gets a “brain-dead media” award.  He selected Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae as #2 in the Culprits of the Collapse.  Raines has his own problems, and maybe should have made the top ten culprits of something, but what primarily caused the housing bubble was the ability of Wall Street investment [...]

Obama’s elitist image

I see the media have adopted GOP talking point #1: Obama is an arrogant, aloof elitist.
What is the deal with this? Attending elite schools like Harvard makes him an an elitist? No, that can’t be it. W went to Yale and Harvard and he’s a regular guy. In addition, [...]

Legends of stock-picking

From BusinessWeek, 8/3/2006:

5 smart bets for the housing slump
A survey of experts uncovers ways you can invest in real estate — or, at least, keep an eye on it — in preparation for the inevitable rebound.
…are you brave enough to bet against conventional wisdom and buy real estate stocks now? Even if you are, bear [...]

Social Security “a disgrace”—John McCain

Via TPM, John McCain has apparently taken to calling Social Security an “an absolute disgrace” because
“…we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace and it’s got to be fixed.”
Josh Marshall asks where’s the disgrace? “That’s how the system was [...]

Framing Obama

From the Washington Post today:
POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday broadly dismissed recent stories that he is moving toward the political center, saying he has always held certain centrist views — on encouraging faith, on the right of individuals to own guns — and that attempts to portray him otherwise are the [...]

Let the framing begin

If there was any question what the conservative campaign theme this year would be, there isn’t now.
“Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.” But Republicans have the answer:
Cue soothing music, soft-focus on a young-family’s picnic in field; deep voiced narrator intones “Only one man can keep us safe in times like these” while the camera [...]