Enjoy your nine dollars

Guest Post by Morbo The Washington Post ran an interesting chart this week that every [tag]Democrat[/tag] should memorize. It shows your annual savings under the latest [tag]Republican[/tag] [tag]tax cut[/tag]. Here are the figures: $10,000-$20,000: $2 $20,000-$30,000: $9 $30,000-$40,000: $16 $40,000-$50,000: $46 $50,000-$75,000: $100 $75,000-$100,000: $403 $100,000-$200,000: $1,388 $200,000-$500,000: $4,499 $500,000-$1 million: $5,562 More than $1 […]

Control your guns or lose them

Guest Post by Morbo This week, an emotionally disturbed young man named Michael Kennedy put on a camouflage outfit and, armed with seven guns, among them an assault rifle, drove to a police station in Fairfax County, Va., where he opened fire in the parking lot. Before he was killed by return gunfire, Kennedy critically […]

Nothing to fear but…

I think everyone wants to better understand how two-thirds of the public has no problem with a secret [tag]Bush[/tag] administration program that collects records of our domestic [tag]phone calls[/tag]. I talked about a couple of possibilities earlier, but let’s also consider the importance of the “[tag]fear[/tag]” element. Last night, for example, [tag]Fox News[/tag]’ [tag]Neil Cavuto[/tag] […]

McCain’s Liberty weekend

John McCain’s much-discussed appearance at Jerry [tag]Falwell[/tag]’s [tag]Liberty[/tag] University is tomorrow morning. Chances are, more reporters will be on hand for this than any other [tag]commencement[/tag] in Liberty history. At a minimum, the political world will be watching to see the extent to which McCain is willing to sell out for a shot at the […]

Bush ‘stands behind Alphonso Jackson’

It’s been a few days since we learned that [tag]HUD[/tag] Secretary [tag]Alphonso Jackson[/tag] said publicly that it’s “logical” for the administration to deny federal contracts to those who don’t like the president. While several Dem lawmakers have called for Jackson’s [tag]resignation[/tag], and several legal experts have noted that Jackson’s comments were [tag]illegal[/tag] if accurate, the […]

‘Get busy. Make babies.’

I know better than to take [tag]Fox News[/tag]’ [tag]John Gibson[/tag] too seriously, but his “My Word” segment from last night, brought to my attention from reader D.S., was even more disturbing than usual. Make more [tag]babies[/tag]. That’s the lesson drawn out of two interesting stories over the last couple days. First, a story Wednesday that […]

Friday’s political round-up

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Pennsylvania Gov. [tag]Ed Rendell[/tag] (D) recently spent some of his huge campaign war chest on a TV advertising blitz, which appears to be paying off in a big way. A new Quinnipiac […]

Remember the ‘law and order’ party?

Kentucky Gov. [tag]Ernie Fletcher[/tag] (R) was [tag]indicted[/tag] yesterday, stemming his alleged direction of an “illegal conspiracy to place his political allies in state jobs at the expense of those who might oppose him.” The indictments charge Fletcher with one count each of criminal conspiracy, first-degree official misconduct, and violating the prohibition against political discrimination. It […]

NSA phone-records database ‘broadly acceptable’ to the public

Earlier this year, most polls showed [tag]Americans[/tag] largely split on the issue of the [tag]Bush[/tag] administration conducting [tag]warrantless[/tag] [tag]search[/tag]es. I had suspected that the public would be far more concerned about yesterday’s revelations because, unlike warrantless wiretaps, this NSA program deal with everyone’s phone calls. Apparently, I was wrong. Americans by nearly a 2-1 ratio […]

The 20s

The difference between a 31% [tag]approval rating[/tag] and a 29% approval rating isn’t much, but there seems to be something psychologically significant about breaking into the 20s. It’s the tier at which Nixon was driven from office. It’s the level that [tag]Carter[/tag] and [tag]Bush[/tag] the elder never reached. Earlier this week, ABC News’ The Note, […]