Politics

846 posts

Update on the Japan Crisis

Nearly five months after a magnitude 9 earthquake unleashed a massive tsunami, caused northeastern Japan to spring 13 feet to the east and utterly crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, details about the extent of the damage and the amount of radiation that’s still spewing from the troubled reactors is only now coming to light. The Japanese government, in collusion with the nuclear regulatory agency and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) tried to hide critical information from the public concerning radiation levels in the Tohoku region not only to ostensibly curb panic, but to avoid having to pay damages to those who make their living in the region and/or shoulder the expense of relocating even more evacuees. Continue reading →

Conservatives Yell Foul at Newsweek for Hilarious Michele Bachmann Photo

I don’t know about you, but if you’re often photographed, or filmed, or witnessed looking like a complete loon in most every visual sense represented by modern technology…how can you really blame anyone for your lack of focus, your stunned appearance, or what looks to be a pained effort to read the words inside your head? Apparently, Conservatives believe that the liberal media wants to make Michelle Bachmann look crazy, and it’s not, uh, you know, Michele Bachmann just looking insane, because that’s kind of her thing.

Let’s see what the conservative brain trust thinks. Continue reading →

S&P’s Downgrade of US Debt

I am writing this post on Sunday and I must say that I am quite anxious about Monday and how Wall Street will act in response to this downgrade.  We will get an inkling of the response once the Asian and European markets open on what is Sunday night in the US, but I suspect it won’t be pretty.  I do suspect some of the response is already built-in given last week’s market malaise. My bigger concern is the institutions which hold US debt as reserves that may be forced to unload it do to their charters’ requirement of holding AAA debt. Continue reading →

What Might a Liberal Tea Party Look Like?

“There must be some kind of way out of here”
Said the joker to the thief
“There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief”

This week on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher did an extended monologue in the “New Rules” segment on what a Liberal Tea Party might look like. Maher may be a terrible person, but as a political comedian he’s top notch. Regardless, it got me thinking:  what might a real Liberal Tea Party look like? Continue reading →

US Debt Ceiling Crisis Averted

Despite my most pessimistic, and consequently most trustworthy, instincts telling me that we were going to default, here we are. The House and Senate have both approved legislation that will raise the nation’s debt ceiling and sent it to the President to sign, which he is expected to do.

Let’s look at the deal that has passed Congress, and what’s next. Continue reading →

Start Stretching: The Debt Ceiling Crisis Continues

Well, I was hoping we wouldn’t get this far, but here we are.

For those of you that recall my last article on the debt ceiling crisis, I said that my last article would be titled either “Tango Down: US Debt Ceiling Crisis Averted” or “Grab Your Ankles: US Defaults on National Debt”.

Based on my title, I’m sure you can figure out which way I’m leaning on this one.

Since my last article, we’ve watched negotiations between the Vice President and Congress collapse, the President and Congress collapse, and Congress and Congress collapse. What makes that last part worse is that it’s not like it’s failed once. No, it’s worse than that. The House can’t agree with the Senate. House Republicans can’t agree with Senate Republicans. Democrats can’t agree with Republicans. And the House Republicans can’t agree with each other. Continue reading →

Welcome to Democrazy

“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” – Sir Winston Churchill –

A successful democracy has always rested on two fundamental pillars. The first is compromise; the ability for even the most intractable of political foes to sit down at a table and hammer out laws that neither of them like, but that both of them can live with. The second is the exclusion of extreme elements. Simply put, government cannot function if the lunatics are running the asylum. Continue reading →

Boehner’s Debt Ceiling Plan Would Be Worst Thing Evar

I know this ain’t Ezra Klein’s blog, but let’s wonk out for a moment.

Boehner’s debt ceiling plan really, really sucks. According to the president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Mr. Sobbing Spray Tan’s debt ceiling deal “could well produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern U.S. history.”

In short, the Boehner plan would force policymakers to choose among cutting the incomes and health benefits of ordinary retirees, repealing the guts of health reform and leaving an estimated 34 million more Americans uninsured, and savaging the safety net for the poor. It would do so even as it shielded all tax breaks, including the many lucrative tax breaks for the wealthiest and most powerful individuals and corporations.

Get the deets here.