I know this will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but the Bush gang wants to make it easier for power plants to pollute more. The Bush administration has drafted regulations that would ease pollution controls on older, dirtier power plants and could allow those that modernize to emit more pollution, rather than […]
For years, every time the left would say the war in Iraq is really about oil, the right would scoff and reject the argument out of hand. And yet, there was Bush yesterday, laying out a new argument for the importance of the war: we have to look out for all that oil. President Bush […]
Fox News’ John Gibson may or may not have been kidding, but his comment while guest hosting Bill O’Reilly’s radio show the other day says a great deal about how the far right looks at dissent and the rights of those in uniform to share their concerns. Here’s what Gibson said: “Anyway, ‘Get used to […]
If you haven’t already, take a look at the image an anti-abortion group is sending around in the hopes of proving something about Hurricane Katrina, God’s wrath, and the group’s political agenda. Here’s the picture, via Pandagon. The message was crafted by people at Christian Life and Liberty.net, who are convinced Americans are responsible for […]
I’ve found it difficult to write much of anything about the devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The tragedy is so overwhelming, it defies description. There were some early reports on Monday afternoon suggesting that Hurricane Katrina had taken a subtle shift to the east, preventing what would have been a true catastrophe. These reports […]
Conservative Republicans, who are bound together by the principle of limited government, the free market, and the power of consumers’ choice, have taken quite an interest in your television. [Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin] is now poised to win the broader indecency war. During the long hot summer in Washington, he has been quietly […]
Our old friend Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum is in a tough spot. Actually, he’s been in a tough spot for a while and hasn’t figured out a way to make it any better. As it stands now, Santorum is trailing Bob Casey Jr. in polls for next year’s race. Pennsylvania voters are looking for […]
Two important news items, one important message. First up is the latest poverty statistics from the Census Bureau. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. The percentage of people without health insurance did not change. Overall, there were 37 […]
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: * I mentioned way back in April that Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D), who narrowly lost a bid for governor in 2004, is the Dems’ top choice to take on Sen. Jim […]
Kevin Drum had a couple of terrific items last week on the legal principle conservatives call “originalism.” It’s the idea that the only defensible way for federal judges to consider cases is to rule based on a narrow, literal reading of the Constitution as it was written, based exclusively on the meaning intended by the […]