A cavalcade of bad news about the federal budget

Bill Clinton, who oversaw the longest period of economic prosperity and the largest surpluses in U.S. history, was recently giving a speech in South Florida. He noted, “People ask me what great new ideas did you bring to Washington. I say, ‘Arithmetic.’” It’s a good line, but more importantly, it’s a valuable observation about the […]

Kerry makes the same mistake Dean made when it comes to the South

The ongoing debate in Democratic Party circles over whether our presidential nominee should even think about winning southern states has a new participant: John Kerry. Unfortunately, I think Kerry may be making the same mistake Howard Dean made when he got the ball rolling on this issue several months ago. Over the weekend, Kerry casually […]

Congressional Dems ask GAO to investigate Plame Game scandal

Since congressional Republicans seem intent on ignoring the White House’s Plame Game scandal, Dems on Capitol Hill have decided to go around the GOP majority and ask the non-partisan General Accounting Office to launch an investigation. By all accounts, the purpose of the proposed GAO inquiry would be different from the ongoing Justice Department investigation. […]

Dennis Miller will give Bush a ‘pass’ on his new show

When CNBC announced that it was hiring Dennis Miller to host a new cable talk show, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Another news network hiring another conservative to share GOP talking points to a national television audience? Aside from the fact that Miller has a better vocabulary than most of ideological cohorts, this sounds […]

Norquist won’t back down from comparing the Estate Tax to the Nazi Holocaust

Grover Norquist, the nation’s most powerful conservative lobbyist/activist, raised a few eyebrows in October when he compared the Estate Tax to the Nazi Holocaust, suggesting that the two were morally equivalent in an interview with NPR. For reasons that continue to astound me, the national media more or less ignored the remark and Norquist continues […]

Bush’s amnesia over Iraq inspections appears to be spreading

I thought it was kind of funny, and kind of scary, in July 2003 when Bush said Saddam Hussein refused to allow U.N. weapons inspectors into Iraq, which then led to the war. Bush said, “[W]e gave [Saddam Hussein] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And, therefore, after […]

Democrats have not ‘abandoned religion’

I noticed an op-ed in Sunday’s LA Times by Tony Quinn, a California-based political analyst who co-edits the California Target Book. It struck me as terribly wrong so I wanted to refute Quinn’s central argument — that Democrats have “abandoned religion” and are “too secular” to win on the national stage. This is utter nonsense. […]

Pollsters get put to the test — again

Nearly all the assumptions going into the Iowa caucuses last week were wrong. Many a pundit wondered aloud as to whether Kerry’s predicted third place finish would doom his candidacy, right up until he won easily. An equal number expressed their awe and admiration for Dean’s incredible Iowa field operation, right up until he finished […]

Off to a good start?

The New Hampshire primary officially got underway shortly after midnight, early this morning, when residents in two extremely tiny towns — Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location — cast their votes. Oddly enough, neither community has any registered Democrats, but since independents can vote in New Hampshire primaries, residents can cast ballots for the Dems. While […]

Technical troubles

Usually I have more posts throughout the day, but there was a server problem that has finally been corrected. Check back tomorrow for several day-old tirades.