Email on estate tax repeal

My post from last week on the House vote to repeal the estate tax last generated some interesting responses from a few regular readers, but there’s one I wanted to share. A longtime Carpetbagger friend, whom I fondly call Dr. Who, emailed to say that he agreed with my concerns in part, and disagreed in […]

Gephardt campaign responds to odd comment about Supreme Court

Yesterday, I mentioned how odd I thought it was for Dick Gephardt to say he can get around Supreme Court rulings with executive orders. Specifically, Gephardt spoke at a Jesse Jackson-organized event in Chicago and said, “When I’m president, we’ll have executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any […]

It depends on what the definition of “lie” is

The New York Times ran an interesting article over the weekend that has generated a lot of discussion. The premise of the piece acknowledges a number of “exaggerations” from Bush on issues such as tax cuts and Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but questions whether these embellishments constitute actual “lies.” The Times article concluded, quite […]

Dean’s debacle on Meet the Press

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz said today that Howard Dean’s hour-long appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday “is turning into one of the year’s most talked-about interviews.” I think that’s true, but it’s not good news for the good doctor. The program was a disaster for Dean. Some of you have probably noticed my […]

WMD, the war in Iraq, and another poll showing widespread ignorance

Last week I mentioned a poll from the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland on public awareness and opinions on issues relating to Iraq, the attacks of 9/11, weapons of mass destruction, etc. I expressed some concern because too many people were terribly mistaken about the most basic details. For example, […]

Is Bush a tax cutter or a tax raiser? A new campaign theme emerges

After signing trillions of dollars in tax cuts into law, Bush has shown an almost-obsessive interest in cutting government revenue. It appears, more often than not, that cutting taxes is not only the most important domestic goal for the Bush administration, it represents his entire domestic policy. But a new campaign theme appears to emerging […]

Media myths perpetuate drive for “tort reform”

It’s always irritated me that “tort reform” pretended to be a populist movement, when it’s the textbook example of an effort to protect wealthy business interests against individuals who deserve redress. People hear about absurd cases, such as the infamous suit against McDonald’s for too-hot coffee, and conclude that legislation is needed to crack down […]

MoveOn primary draws unprecedented interest from presidential hopefuls

The Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary may be six months away, but the MoveOn Primary begins tomorrow — and everyone seems to be talking about it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with MoveOn, it’s a liberal political group formed in 1998, motivated to try and end the Clinton impeachment fiasco. It […]

Pryor committee vote this week?

I’ve mentioned on a few occasions that former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, a Bush nominee for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, is about the worst judicial nominee this White House could possibly come up with. In light of my minor obsession with Pryor’s nomination, I thought I’d mention that the Senate Judiciary Committee […]

Gephardt embraces unusual constitutional law principle

Seven Democratic presidential hopefuls appeared in Chicago yesterday at a forum sponsored by Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Nearly all the candidates expressed support for affirmative action and expressed concern about a pending case on the issue before the Supreme Court. Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), however, was so concerned about what the high court might do, […]