Comments on: Am I ALWAYS A Partisan Hack?

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:06:48 +0000

Aaron, 8% sounds about right…but I remember someone saying, perhaps it was Krugman, who’s now Obama’s big cheerleader, that without the stimulus, we would hit 10% unemployment. Sure looks like we hit it WITH the stimulus. Either the stimulus hasn’t helped or it would have been at 12% without it, I guess…but either way, eventually, the economic cycle would turn the other way…and when the cycle turns, we’ll hear it was the stimulus. It’s a win-win for the Krugmans of the world – they can say it would have been so much worse now, and later, they’ll say, see? It worked!…

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:48:53 +0000

Mark, I thought Obama had said the stimulus had to be passed ASAP to keep unemployment from getiing above 8%. Also, I believe less than 20% of it has been spent thus far.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:37:05 +0000

On Sanford: judgment is a relevant consideration when evaluating the capabilities of a candidate or, in this case, a sitting Governor. I agree with my friends here that Sanford has displayed a considerable lack of judgment in his personal behavior and, by disappearing for several days, his professional responsibilities. His actions upon his return, the on-going confessions and such, are equally bizarre and concerning. If I were a citizen of his State I’d be screaming for his removal. Too bad the Honduran military is busy right now.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:32:31 +0000

I can’t recall, did Peter give Bush credit for slower negative growth?

On foreign policy, I especially am enjoying watching Obama prop up our enemies in Iran and undermine our friends in Honduras. Well played Mr. Obama, well played.

By: Chris J. Breisch

Chris J. Breisch — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:29:42 +0000

it’s worth noting that while the decision was 5-4, not a single Justice agreed with her decision to grant summary judgment in the case.

However, I think that Sotomayor will be a decent Justice. I am pretty certain that were I a sitting U.S. Senator, I would vote to confirm.

I care little about the idealogies of SC nominees. To me there are only three important questions.

1. Does the person have the qualifications for the job?
2. Does the person know and understand the role of the Court?
3. Does the person know and understand the role of a Justice on the Court?

One could argue that 2 and 3 are idealogical questions, but in fact, they should not be. And the nominee must be granted some leeway here on even those issues in the 21st century. From what I’ve seen so far, she fits under 1 and 2, and I doubt she will have any problems with 3. We’ll see at the overblown and ridiculous confirmation hearings.

FWIW I would vote against confirming Ginsberg and she was confirmed 99-0 by a Republican Senate. But I’d vote for Sotomayor.

As for Sanford, I’m not following the story close enough to have an opinion, nor do I think mine or even Mark’s opinion on the subject are relevant. He’s not our governor.

For Franken, he’s a clown, but I’m glad it’s over, and I have felt for some time that Coleman should let it go.

The real problem that both this and Bush v. Gore showed is that we can not trust our current system when the ballot count is extremely close. There will always be those on both sides who feel that that the system was unjust. 8 years since Bush v. Gore, and we still haven’t fixed anything. Maybe it’s unfixable, but I’d like to think otherwise.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:26:44 +0000

Well, Fargus, it’s true Bush agreed to the concept – I’m thinking that it was Obama that set the date, if my memory is not tricking me…but if not, it bolsters my point further that Obama’s policy in the Middle East has largely been a continuation of Bush’s, no?…

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:42:25 +0000

Also from today’s news: Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank in June at the slowest pace in 10 months, another sign the worst of the recession may be over.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGoPQQDmo_NA

Unemployment claims are high but they are being filed at a declining rate. Mortgage applications are down largely because interest rates have risen in expectation of economic growth – you can’t get a sub-5% mortgage any more. More like 6 or 6 1/2%. This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

I don’t pretend that everything is hunky dory, but the economy has stopped its horrifying decline – as they were last winter, with a credit freeze and major institutions going belly up day after day – and it’s showing unmistakable signs of life. The stimulus plan was enacted about four months ago, and the bulk of the money hasn’t been spent. So far, so good.

By: Fargus

Fargus — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:38:48 +0000

Troops moving out of cities is due to the SoFA negotiated by Bush, no?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:48:11 +0000

Two stories today that belie your mystifying trumpeting of Obama’s economic record – payrolls fell worse than expected (we’re still shedding nearly half a million jobs a month), and mortgage applications hit a 7-month low.

Partisanship aside, I think any objective view of the stimulus would acknowledge that it largely failed in its primary task of raising employment…

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:25:35 +0000

Peter, I guess Obama didn’t realize that unemployment is a lagging indicator, then, since he’s the one that set the expectation that the stimulus plan would prevent unemployment from reaching the levels that it, in fact, has reached.

Bush gave speeches very similar to Obama’s on the Middle East. Two big differences: Obama avoided the use of the word “terror” and, of course, the location. I gave Obama praise for the speech at the time, and I stand by it. But it wasn’t a radical departure from Bush – the differences were more in style, location, and nuance…and I welcome any movement towards the West, including in Lebanon, but Lebanon has been drifting from Syria since – well, since the Bush administration.

Obama has been better than I expected on foreign affairs – I’m not trying to nitpick.

On domestic affairs, he’s been worse…