Whether Barack Obama is “moving to the middle” is a topic of considerable discussion, though I tend to think most of the handwringing is overwrought and misplaced. But I was taken aback by the ferocity of Bob Herbert’s column in the NYT this morning, in which he complained that Obama is “not just tacking gently […]
Cheney’s office ‘fixed’ EPA testimony on global warming
You may recall a story from October, when Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before a Senate panel on the impact of climate change on public health. Before Gerberding could talk to lawmakers, however, the White House altered her testimony. References to potential health risks were removed — […]
‘No clue and no plan’
Yesterday’s big news was John McCain’s “plan” to eliminate a $410 billion deficit in just four years. He didn’t get around to explaining how, exactly, he planned to do this, but the McCain campaign is very excited about the vague generalities it presented the public. Now that everyone’s had a chance to review McCain’s “policy,” […]
Obama puts bankruptcy-law reform on the table
By any reasonable measure, the 2005 bankruptcy “reform” law passed in 2005 was one of the worst pieces of domestic legislation of Bush’s presidency. Campaigning in Georgia today, Barack Obama, to his enormous credit, put fixing the law back on the table. For all the talk about Obama reversing course and scurrying to the middle, […]
Tuesday’s campaign 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: * Yesterday, the RNC unveiled a new ad attacking Barack Obama on energy policy. This morning, the Obama campaign unveiled a very strong response ad that will air in the same four states […]
Jukebox John changes his tune every few minutes
Update: This post has been updated and expanded. Atrios mentioned yesterday, “…I don’t think the ‘Obama is a flip-flopper’ will be an especially useful line of attack for the McCain campaign, but it makes sense that they’re using it. The script is already written, making it easier for the barely literate cable newsers to run […]
On ‘saving’ Social Security, Obama and McCain do more than just ‘diverge’
John McCain has been struggling with Social Security for a while now. He was, for example, in favor of privatizing the system, only to reverse course soon after and oppose privatizing the system, only to discover that his new position was actually the same as his old one. Yesterday, the McCain campaign complicated matters, issuing […]
Is Maliki really ready for U.S. troops to withdraw?
Given that Iraq’s Sunnis and Iraq’s Shi’ia would both like to see U.S. troops withdraw sooner rather than later, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that Nouri al-Maliki is publicly making noises about telling the U.S., “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time […]
‘Some economists don’t think much of my gas tax holiday’
Someday, John McCain will look back at his presidential campaign and wonder, “What on earth was I thinking? Why did I let those consultants and lobbyists convince me to repeat nonsense I know isn’t true?” Take yesterday, for example. “Some economists don’t think much of my gas tax holiday,” he said of his plan to […]
The McCain campaign’s small-business myth
Yesterday, leading McCain campaign surrogate Carly Fiorina, a top advisor to the Republican candidate, insisted that Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year would hurt small businesses. “In the Bush tax cuts, if they are repealed, 23 million small businesses will have their taxes raised. Why? Because […]