The point is, this isn't the Right defending the health of the economy as much as it is the Right defending their rich benefactors.
As we all know, income stagnation is something that most conservatives and Republicans have spent years pretending was not happening, because it did not fit in with the assumption that working- and middle-class Americans were thriving as part of the “greatest story never told.” It is the failure to acknowledge and address all of these things along with the preference for using symbolic gimmickry that begin to account for the lamentable states of conservatism and the GOP. There is also the war, but movement and party have become so invested in it that I have my doubts whether they can ever recognize its role in discrediting both with the public.Along those same lines, Ross Douthat notes that, "The Right has a messaging problem, yes - but it also has a message problem." Which all seems to boil down to a call for policy that is more robust than the discredited supply-side approaches that have been the modern Right's cornerstone.
One thing I want to avoid in this blog is foreign policy. Every now and then, though, I think it makes sense to dip into that world, especially when it makes sense from a local perspective. With that in mind, the Miami Herald points out that language in the new budget would, "kill enforcement of regulations that restrict travel to Cuba by Cuban Americans." The Herald Editorial Board thinks that the Budget approach is the wrong way in accomplishing this. Instead, the Board argues that Obama not de-fund enforcement but re-engage in the Cuba debate, noting that they don't believe the trade embargo should be eliminated.In the last 13 months, the number of unemployed people living in rural America has increased by 297,000. All but 15,000 of those jobs were lost in one month, December 2008.That is a lot of pain right before Christmas.
existing homes for sale has fallen by 563,000 (13.5 percent) even as home sales have been near 20 year lows." You wouldn't think that these two datapoints would correlate, and Dr. Baker hypothesizes (bold & italics mine):There are two possible explanations. First, many foreclosed homes don't appear in the realtors' data. It is possible that we are seeing more bank owned properties that are being sold at auction, but are not listed as inventory. In that case, the NAR data is becoming a less accurate measure of
inventory.
The other possibility is that many would be home sellers are holding back in the expectation that the market will improve. This would imply that the market may be flooded with homes at some point in the future, as soon as it shows any sign of an uptick. That is also not a terribly good story for those hoping for prices to stabilize any time soon. It likely also means a rather unhappy story for those opting to wait. They may be looking at much lower prices when they do eventually put their homes on the market.
[A] content analysis of leading conservative magazines shows that most have preponderantly failed to take pro-liberty positions on sex, gambling, and drugs. Besides many anti-liberty commissions, the magazines may be criticized for anti-liberty omission—that is, failing to oppose anti-liberty policies. Magazines investigated include National Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Enterprise, and The American Spectator.An interesting side note is that this research comes from George Mason University, which is not exactly a liberal institution.
By 2004, the wealthiest 10 percent of households held 70 percent of total wealth, and the combined net worth of the top 1 percent of families was larger than that of the bottom 90 percent. In fact, the top 1 percent took home more than 22 percent of total national income, up from 10 percent in 1980 (see Figure 9, Top One Percent of Earners). And these disparities are felt far beyond one’s bank statement as several studies have found a direct correlation between health outcomes and personal income.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, and every other Republican in the
House voted against a Democrat-drafted $787 billion economic stimulus package.
But now that President Obama has signed the measure into law, Rooney has added
his signature to a Florida plea for $2.7 billion in stimulus money for public
schools.
Is Charlie the genuinely concerned Republican moderate/populist he professes to be (``I work for the people, they're my boss'')? Or is he a slightly ditzy, disconnected lightweight who has succeeded on the strength of great political instincts, an appealing personality and a Clintonesque (Bill, not Hillary) talent for making you feel like you're the most important person in the room for however long you're with him?I want to ask Putney, who cares? What exactly does psychologizing about the "real" Charlie Crist accomplish? Thinking along these lines, it seems to me, culminates in a kind of lazy analysis. It's thinking that get you "Bush wins an election because he's the candidate we'd like to have a beer with"-type sound bytes.
am very happy that Dr. Andrew Gelman joined Nate Silver and the 538 team. Dr. Gelman contributed yesterday with further support from the 2008 election for the contention that income predicts Republican vote more strongly in red than in blue states.
Lay off a government worker, and he’ll just be unemployed. And as an unemployed government worker, he’ll spend less at local stores leading to more layoffs in retail and more excess inventory in manufacturing. This kind of thing is how recessions become depressions.
Both pundits and scholars have blamed increasing levels of partisan conflict and polarization in Congress on the effects of partisan gerrymandering. We assess whether there is a strong causal relationship between congressional districting and polarization. We find very little evidence for such a link.Now, partisanship isn't my worry in regards to gerrymandering. My worry is an inaccurate representation of the electorate (which is to say, a blue state with more red legislators). To that end, something like the Fair Districts Florida petition drive seems to be a step in the right direction as long as we understand what will (and won't) be the consequences of success.
I just don’t think it’s the responsibility of individuals to know that all the experts, and all the conventional wisdom, are secretly wrong.
I believe that Main Street is as responsible for the current economic crisis as Wall Street. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone; that NFL play rules are beginning to coddle quarterbacks; and that all elected officials should be subject to term limits. I believe that man really did land on the moon; that history will redeem George W. Bush; that life begins after conception but before birth; and that nature will destroy us before we destroy it.
