Well while I'm sure many may admire his stance in favor of the public option for health care reform, what hurts this celebration is that he took a US Senate appointment from Rod Blagojevich.
— Levois / Comments (0)
Virginia voters on the cusp of a gubernatorial election recently received an automated call from the femme fatale from everyone's political porn fantasies: Sarah Palin. During this robocall, Palin's nasal voice encouraged voters to "vote [their] values" and "vote to share our principles." I don't want to put words in Palin's mouth, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that she's alluding to the moral principles upon which Republicans have campaigned recently.
This campaign strategy highlights the irrelevancy of the Republican party to the group that I affectionately refer to as the "New Conservatives." Believe it or not, there are young people out there that are conservative. Not every recent college grad subscribes to John Stewart's school of economic liberalism. Unfortunately, however, the Republican party seems largely disconnected from this growing group, continuously barking out stupid, uneducated and uninformed crap like this. The increasingly urban population either doesn't or can't afford to care about the hot button moral issues of yester-year. Gay marriage? That seems pretty unimportant when you're unemployed and wondering where your rent is coming from. Abortion? That's sad, but without health insurance a lot of young people (a fat chunk of the nation's uninsured) are wondering if they themselves will survive amidst life's daily hazards and the media's "OMG" epidemic of H1N1.
— Conor McCarthy / Comments (3)
This isn't anything to get overly excited about but it appears that Illinois Senator Roland Burris isn't totally on board with the opt-out provision. He's been saying for a little while now that he wouldn't settle for anything less than a serious public option sans concessions and I guess he's...still serious about it. I'm still skeptical of how far he's going to go and Lynn Sweet reports that the White House is dispatching its health czar to talk with Burris which, I bet, will cool him down.
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (0)
Documentarian Ken Burns has been all over the place, promoting his beautiful new documentary on America's national parks, America's Best Idea. Part of his regular schtick in promoting what looks like an amazing documentary series has been to mention that while the idea in the Declaration of Independence ("All men are created equal") is a great idea, Jefferson actually meant (this is a direct quote) "All white men of property, free of debt." The national parks, Burns goes on to say, are the distilled spirit of that ideal set in practice. Thus why the national parks are "America's Best Idea."
Historians have made various excuses for Jefferson's owning of slaves, but none are wholly satisfying. That said, Burns' characterization of Jefferson's intentions is not fair or accurate. While Jefferson was definitely a hypocrite who couldn't square his idealistic Enlightenment radicalism with his very human weaknesses, Burns shouldn't irresponsibly put words in his mouth and motives in his heart.
The reason this quote stands out is because one of Thomas Jefferson's animating life experiences was the fact that basically from the moment of his maturation to his death, he was drowning in debt. This was not something that slowly built on him. He was in debt essentially his whole life; in fact, among the excuses historians make for his failure to manumit (free) his slaves was that his enormous debts would have essentially meant handing his slaves over to his creditors, who he feared would treat them no better. (This would not have stopped him from any number of other remedies, of course).
In any case, could Jefferson, who never uttered this phrase Burns keeps repeating ("white men of property free of debt") really have "meant" that the group of people created equal was a set that didn't include himself?
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
Oh man. Samuel Wurtzelbacher (aka "Joe the Plumber") doing stand-up. Look away. (But don't).
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
What should people be out in the streets chanting about? End of life counseling to provide for living wills--ie, the pretend "Death Panels" of bathshit crazy propaganda fame? Or the securitization of life settlements, essentially a giant Death Pool that is making some people really rich?
The mechanism here is basically the same as the one used for mortgage-backed securities. Wall Street buys up life policies from elderly or ill people, who sell them for up-front cash that can be enjoyed before actual death (similar to those brokered arrangements with terminally ill HIV patients that received so much attention in the late eighties). They then take those policies and dump them into a securitized pool, where they can then be packaged as bonds and sold to investors who would get paid off when the policyholders die.
....But even beyond that... what the fuck??? This feels like financial innovation as practiced by Josef Mengele meets the Zucker Brothers; not just evil, but wacky evil. I don't even want to think about what happens when Goldman Sachs suddenly has a large financial stake in the premature deaths of a bunch of old people. Where are the crazy police? Where is the crack federal crazy squad with the big butterfly net? I don't know about betting on anyone's life expectancy, but I think I'd like to bet on whether or not this idea ends well.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)
Russ Feingold (D-WI), the US Senator who will be hailed as a profile in courage for his lone vote against the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, drops a bombshell: the USA PATRIOT Act, surprise surprise, is being used for something other than what it was intended for.
Wait a second, the Bush administration used the national tragedy of September 11th as an excuse for a federal power grab? A massive expansion of federal power that really had nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with accruing more power to the executive? Exactly as conservative presidents have done since John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts? You mean conservatism doesn't really mean "less government" it just means "protect the status quo"?
Libertarians opposed it. Conservatives loved it--still love it. Talk of repealing it was anathema during the Presidential election because it would be construed as "weak". See, because libertarians actually oppose the coercive power of the state; conservatives only oppose coercive power of the state over personal property--or the coercive power of the state when it's not their guy.
Watch Feingold:
Then note that the streets called it first. Here's Self-Scientific:
They Accepted The Patriot Act To Stop Terror, When We The Only Targets For Those Weapons/Meanwhile The City Is As Hot As It's Ever Been
Here's Rhymefest:
Dime bag-ass n*s ain't large/When the Patriot Act come hit they ass with the terrorist charge/And we, is what they made it for/You think it's all about Arabs? It's a war on the poor, we gotta go
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is:
...rude.
...extremely conservative.
...in fact, outright right wing.
...ideologically repugnant.
...politically hypocritical.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) isn't:
...worth this much attention from the media.
...worth this much attention from Congress.
...worth this much attention from activists.
...worth this much attention from conservatives.
...particularly talented or smart.
...the anti-Christ.
...a hero.
...a proven racist.
Let it go.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
His nephew, Chris Kennedy, was appointed to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees today by Governor Quinn, as well.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
Via Reason:
Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (once the chairman of the US House's Ways & Means Committee) back in 1989 was chased down by some senior citizens protesting legislation, Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. They complained that they had to pay more taxes for the additional benefits. Rostenkowski seemed more rattled by the citizens than some of the Senators facing their own angry mobs in the current health care debate.
If only we had those types of contentious townhalls here. I can't argue about the people putting their politicians to the fire!
— Levois / Comments (2)
Over at the Huffington Post there is a painful post up about President Obama's changes in his positions on health care negotiations. Most damning:
Capitulation to special interests? Or "political intelligence" that will get some form of health care reform through?
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)
I find this bit in a story in today's Chicago Sun-Times on the Cash for Clunkers program surprising:
Illinois ranks sixth among states in the number of cash-for-clunker dollars going to buyers: $2.44 million. It follows No. 1 Michigan ($3.4 million), Ohio ($2.93 million), California ($2.64 million), Minnesota ($2.62 million) and Texas ($2.5 million).
That puts us ahead of states like Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington --places where I'd assume there'd not only be enthusiasm for environmentalism and/or fuel efficiency but also a lack of conservative skepticism toward the program. Personally I can't think of any really good explanation for any of the states I mention except maybe Oregon which is basically bicycle central. But for the rest, what's the deal? Why is Illinois, whose biggest city has a fair (but far from perfect) public transport system doing more trading than these other ones? Do that many people have more SUVs to trade in?
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (6)
Are you ready to confirm!? That's right folks, today and today only, except for all the other days, watch dozens of our nation's heaviest-hitter legislators ask a scrappy, aspiring young jurist convoluted baseball-metaphor-themed questions about her judicial philosophy. You won't wanna miss the strikes and balls.
UPDATE: Lindsay Graham to Sotomayor: "Unless you have a total meltdown, you will be confirmed." Come on man. Give your buddies some hope.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
We've had a very surprising week as far as 2010 is concerned. The big surprise was that Lisa Madigan is staying put at Attorney General. This seems to be the week where those who were just waiting to make their moves are making them essentially.
Well depending on your perspective, this report of Roland Burris not seeking election to his Senate seat might be surprising. Perhaps some of us might believe that his ego might cause him to run for a seat many of us certain that he will not even succeed in a primary.
But since he's choosing not to run for the US Senate, then that opens the field up a little. Otherwise if Burris remained in the race, it wouldn't be difficult for me to say that the Republicans could pick up this seat.
Well now it might be a little difficult to predict. We have Mark Kirk for the Republicans and that field has yet to form. While for the Democrats we have a Kennedy, our state Treasurer who just so happens to be friends with the current President of the United States, and a Black woman who heads the Chicago Urban League. Right now the interesting field might be on the Democratic side but I won't predict who might be able to take this seat.
What say you? Who might be likely to be our next sitting Senator after 2010? Is that person in the race or have we ever heard of that prospective Senator?
— Levois / Comments (2)
...it might go a little something like this:
Madigan:
He's a loony prosecutor *cough* Rolando Cruz, war protestors *cough*.
Birkett:
She's soft on corruption *cough*dad is Mike Madigan*cough*.
Madigan:
Hey, I remember this guy; he's the guy I beat eight years ago.
Birkett:
Yeah, I remember that election; hey, who was at the top of your ticket that year?
Madigan:
You mean the guy I tried to get suspended from office?
Birkett:
Yeah, the guy who the Supreme Court laughed at you when you tried to get suspended from office.
Madigan:
Uh...All the women, who are independent, throw your hands up at me!
Birkett:
All the white dudes--uh, wait, nevermind...hey, isn't your dad Mike Madigan?
Madigan:
Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the balloon drop.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)
Poor Mark Kirk (R-IL10). Conservatives aren't crazy about him, considering a defector on cap-and-trade and coloring him as a Democrat-lite--or worse, a "coward". But Democrats aren't exactly fond of him, as Progress Illinois argues, he's "no moderate". So which is it?
The open primary system makes the life of a moderate difficult, if not impossible. And given that Illinois' Republican Party has shrunk, particularly in the interior Chicagoland suburbs, it means that the more ideologically committed Republicans--the more conservative ones--are disproportionately (to the population) represented in the primary electorate. That's not necessarily bad; a primary isn't meant to get the temperature of the population, it's meant to get the temperature of the party. If the party's temperature is further right (or left) than that of the population, so be it. On the one hand, Kirk would probably be Republicans' best shot at taking the Senate seat; Kirk has a good reputation in his district for constituent services, and while he's no progressive he's no reactionary and probably in line ideologically with lots of Illinoisans. On the other hand, he would be instantly alienated by his party's conservative activist base, particularly the strong abortion activist organizations in the collar counties and central and downstate Illinois county organizations that may not be willing to ignore his carbon cap'n trade cap-and-trade vote and friendly posture to GLBT issues.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (8)
I imagine most Gapers Block readers don't care much about Sarah Palin's machinations (at least not as much as Andrew "Fatal Attraction" Sullivan). But I'm offended by her and her spokespeople's terrible basketball analogies. (see Anderson cooper's hilarious confusion here and Deadspin's take here.
Sarah Palin was apparently as bad a basketball player as she is policy wonk. A good point guard, faced with a full court press, does not pass the ball and walk off the court as she is doing. I've watched some excellent point guards like Rod Strickland, Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Derrick Rose, play basketball. A good point guard breaks down the defense with some great ball handling skills, skillful passing and fluid court movements. It seems that Sarah Palin went to the Kurt "dribble dribble dribble shot clock running out do something" Hinrich point guard school. Really good politicians are probably like good point guards. Some attack the basket and break down defenses (a la Rahm Emmanuel). Some probe the defense and force them into missteps and over commitments and break 'em down (Obama?). And then of course there's Richard Daley, who's probably less of a point guard and more of an Anthony Mason-Charles Oakely-Shaq intimidator.
— Jacob Lesniewski / Comments (0)
Protests, yelling, legislation for, legislation against, Perez Hilton forcing us to hear the opinions of a Beauty Queen, that Beauty Queen thinking we actually care... This gay marriage situation has gotten out of hand. Whatever you think about the issue, I think that we can all agree that when Sean Penn starts acting like the gay community's MLK, something needs to be done. The last thing we need is Sean Penn thinking he has anything substantive to contribute to the conversation.
What we need here is clarity, and I aim to provide just that. We should begin, though, with something that has thus far been lacking: an understanding of the core issues with which each party is concerned. So, I will provide a summary of each side to the best of my ability, and then I will postulate a solution that I believe satisfies both parties.
The Pro-Gay Marriage Perspective:
Proponents of gay marriage see it as an issue of equal rights. These are Americans who want to enter into a contracted marriage relationship allowing for the legal rights allotted to such a relationship: inheritance, insurance benefits, medical decisions, joint tax filing, divorce, in-laws and children that don't respect you. They see the opposition as bigoted, prejudiced and hateful. Many compare the fight for gay marriage to the civil rights movements in the '60s. Although such a comparison is somewhat of a superlative, legally and constitutionally there isn't really a solid argument against gay marriage. The only argument against is religious, which brings us to the other perspective.
The Anti-Gay Marriage Perspective:
Be it Christianity, Mormonism, Orthodox Judaism or Islam, the practice of homosexual behavior is prohibited within most major religions. Whether people like it or not, it is a facet of each of these religions. Homosexual activity is deemed a sin. Marriage, thus, is believed to be only appropriate between a man and a woman. The people that oppose gay marriage do so, I believe, because they feel as though their religious beliefs are being threatened by society. They fear that legalization would encroach on their religion; they see themselves as the victims of a society whose morals are in direct conflict with those which their religion commands. They see a legalization of gay marriage as a "moral decline" in society. And although each of these religions has within its tenets a prohibition of homosexual activity, the loudest voice of all of them is the Evangelical Protestant. That being said, I will refer to the anti-gay marriage perspective as "Evangelical" from now on, but it should be understood that the aforementioned religions are also included.
— Conor McCarthy / Comments (12)
It might be a function of my age, under 40 or my political perspective, Republican but I have never gotten the appeal of the Kennedy's today that much.
With Chris Kennedy planning to run for the Democratic nomination in Illinois we were treated to this thought from Rep. Pat Kennedy from RollCall
"A couple hundred grand to Barack and playing hoops on the court with Barack, and you weigh that political capital next to the endorsement of my family for Barack at the critical juncture for his campaign when he did," Rep. Kennedy said. "And to me, if that were a fight, they'd have to stop it because it's a slam dunk for the Kennedys."
What makes you think the President is going to spend any political capital on the Illinois Senate Primary? If you were him, would you?
But I guess the idea that the President owes you (if you are Alexi or a Kennedy) is kind of silly on it's face.
Are the Kennedy's really that relevant anymore? It's been 40+ years since 1968 and since then you have had Teddy with some awkward moments and a congressman here a Lt. Governor there and that's about it.
You could argue that the Bush's and the Clinton's have been much more successful political dynasties in terms of power if not popularity.
It seems that Chris Kennedy is counting at least in part on some star power from the family name and I suspect that will help him some. But in general Democratic Senate nominees in this state have had some elected office experience before nomination, Obama, Braun, Durbin all had some elective service under their belt.
You may like Alexi, you may not (again, I am not going to be voting in this primary) but he has had the advantage of some vetting. As we saw with both Blair Hull and Jack Ryan there is some advantage to that. Imagine how different history might be today if the stuff about Hull's or Ryan's divorces had come out at different times.
I think he is going to regret ever running, I know I will be entertained watching...
— OneMan / Comments (2)
Given how much Schakowsky has flogged her early support of now-President Obama, I wonder if his close relationship with state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the other prominent Dem candidate (besides the--supressed chuckle--incumbent) weighed on her decision? Having months of leaked quotes stating that President Obama preferred his former basketball buddy would surely be humiliating. That is 100% speculation--I'd bet the President will avoid getting involved in any public way. But this is home state and his former seat; how absent can he really be?
UPDATE, 6/9: After getting some feedback from readers, my speculation doesn't seem to be the case. An interesting argument was made that, in fact, spots in Alexi Giannoulias' record--the Broadway bank loans to shady characters--could be a headache for the administration or state Democrats. That stuff was hashed through in '06, but obviously given the intervening humiliation of a Democratic governor getting indicted, it could have new teeth. In any case, the prospect of facing two immensely rich dudes (Chris Kennedy and Alexi) is more logically the overwhelming reason for Rep. Schakowsky's decision.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
The "Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives" campaign wants you to call 2nd District Congressman Jesse Jackson, who has decent seniority on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and ask him to support President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The campaign provides "5 Reasons Why Congressman Jackson should support" the initiative. I don't doubt that our readers will have several reasons why they think he shouldn't; and I think the number one reason will rhyme with "bexploding neficits".
1. Rep. Jackson's Congressional district, the Illinois 2nd, includes the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC) - a place designated by the EPA as especially toxic and need of cleaning. Factories long closed have left a legacy of disgusting and dangerous pollution in the district and its water, including PAHs, PCBs, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen, iron, magnesium, volatile solids, oil and grease. Cleaning these toxins up will benefit the health and quality of life for all families in the area.
2. Full funding of restoration programs can bring those much-vaunted "green collar" jobs to the district. This includes both blue-green collar jobs updating sewer systems and directly cleaning toxic areas, and also white-green collar jobs in the science of restoration and wildlife management.
3. With the area's manufacturing economy all but dead, neighborhoods in the district are placing the lakefront and natural areas at the forefront of long-term economic development plans. Great examples of this are the green initiatives included in South Chicago's Quality of Life Plan and the ongoing recovery of the giant U.S. Steel South Works brownfield. Restoration funding would give these projects a boost and raise their chances for success once completed.
4. It's no secret Rep. Jackson has aspirations for higher office - telling outdoors enthusiasts how he helped save the walleyes they catch on fishing trips might help him win downstate communities in future Senate or statewide campaigns.
5. As a long time ally and fan of Barack Obama, who proposed the $475M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and a Congressman who likes to fish and hunt with colleagues, Rep. Jackson is well suited to take up the torch in the House and bring his fellow Appropriations Committee members on board with The President's plan.
This initiative sounds like a good idea, but I don't know about number 4. Does Congressman Jackson really want to be seen as supporting this because he can "tell outdoors enthusiasts" how he helped to save some fish? I'm sure he'll make that calculation for himself.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
Libertarianism died a death with this latest global economic crisis ("The Great Financial Kerfuffle" if you will) just as socialism, its juvenile Utopian counterpart, did with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now we can happily insult and ridicule libertarians and their free market fundamentalist fellow travelers forever. Ha-ha!
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)
Most people like to start praiseworthy comments about Joe Biden with something like "Sure he talks a lot but...etc." I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm just going to share this press release I got today and say that not only is the Vice President (who likes high speed rail and perhaps cities) going to be in Chicago but so will Bruce Katz, head of Brookings' urban policy program going to be on a panel alongside some very distinguished fellow guests talking about how cities can be the vanguard of economic recovery, in Chicago! For extreme nerds like me this is basically Springstein or Woodstock. Check it out:
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Keynote UIC's Fifth Annual Richard J. Daley Urban Forum: "Global Economic Recovery: Cities Lead the Way"
Forum to bring together mayors and municipal leaders from cities in more than 30 countriesWHAT: The 2009 Richard J. Daley Urban Forum, hosted by UIC and the Daley family, will focus on the most pressing challenge facing cities around the world: recovery from the global economic crisis and investment that will sustain long-term economic growth.
WHO:
* Vice President Joe Biden
* Mayor Richard M. Daley
* Paula Allen-Meares, Chancellor, UIC
* Victoria J. Chou, Dean, College of Education, UIC
* Carol Coletta, President/CEO, CEOs for Cities
* Bruce Katz, VP, Brookings Institution
* Michael H. Moskow, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Senior Fellow, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
* Norbert Riedel, Corporate VP and Chief Scientific Officer, Baxter International, Inc.
* Bernard Shaw, principal anchor emeritus, CNN
* More than 30 mayors and other municipal leaders from cities including: Athens, Greece; Bangkok, Thailand; Beijing, China; Bogotá, Colombia; Casablanca, Morocco; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Kyiv, Ukraine; Paris, France; Vilnius, Lithuania and others.WHEN: Monday, April 27
7:45 a.m.: Media registration opens
8:30 a.m.: Program begins
9:00 a.m.: Plenary Issues Panel, "Economic Recovery and Urban Reinvestment"
9:45 a.m.: Global town meeting, with mayors from more than 30 global cities
11:45 a.m.: Keynote addressWHERE: UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd.
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (2)
Yet another Illinoisan has won a top transportation job in the Obama Administration.
The president on Thursday announced his intent to nominate former Riverdale mayor Joe Szabo to be administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.
FRA is one of the operating units within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It supervises and funds surface railroads and related activities, including Amtrak. Mr. Szabo, now state director for the United Transportation Union, would rule on local funding requests for the Create freight-railroad bypass sytem and to develop high-speed rail passenger service here.
"Joe Szabo is uniquely qualified," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Il., said in a statement. "Five generations of his family have worked on the railroad, and he has worked as a yard switchman, road trainman and commuter passenger conductor."
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (0)
Most Americans use the word "intelligent" to describe President Obama. Me thinks times have changed some.
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (2)
Mechanics has been pretty quiet lately, likely because of the post-special-election-hangover, but the show must go on. So here's this tidbit about the stimulus money that the Land-o-Lincoln is gonna get (via CTA Tattler):
Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office has named Illinois as one of the states it will be auditing and closely watching how it spends the $22.7 billion it is expected to receive in stimulus funding and tax cuts, Crain's Business reports.
And who can blame them? First, the state is set to receive the sixth-highest amount overall. Not to mention the fact it has been the laughingstock of the nation in the past few months with an impeached and ousted governor and a new senator under federal scrutiny about how he got his job.
No argument here.
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (2)
I've got an idea for stemming the corruption associated with money in politics. How about stopping the politicians from asking for it so much?
Among the many topics never taught in high school civics, and rarely in college political science, is begging. The "beg." The "pitch." The "ask." Otherwise known as the direct solicitation of money, by an officeholder or would-be officeholder.
The uproar over the Blagojevich-Burris follies might lead some to believe that the constant "touch" put on friends, acquaintances, and the not-so-well-acquainted was some freakish aberration on the part of the governor and his henchmen. Hardly so.
— Jeff Smith / Comments (0)
John Kass makes me sad. He likes to pretend he's just a common sense South Side guy, who used ta play da stickball over by dere, tellin' it how sees it. Kass is the consummate phony tough guy, a name-calling hit-and-run artist who traffics in innuendos and sloppy arguments. He thinks by inheriting the physical space, and he has inherited the wit and wisdom of Mike Royko, who never got tired of sticking his finger in the eye of local politicians. Kass takes Royko's lovable grumpiness and turns it into unfocused hatefulness, meant to appeal to a certain kind of Chicagoan (actually, mostly former Chicagoans living in the suburbs) who idealize some (non-existent) past version of the city before the lib'ruls got a hold of it.
Royko, however, wasn't hateful. The reason he mocked power politics, identity politics and inefficient bureaucracy was because they failed to help the most needy in our society ("Mary and Joe, Chicago-Style"), not because he just hated those damned lib'ruls, like Kass. Royko was a New Deal Democrat who identified with the working class, not a White Flight principessa.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (11)
Dear Mr. Beatty,
I am writing you this query letter to surmise your interest in my screenplay, Plucky: The Karl Rove Story, a biopic about the life and career of GOP political operative extraordinaire Karl Rove. I believe that by getting an "attachment" from a big name such as yourself to play the title role, I will be able to secure the studio financing to produce the film. Attached is a copy of the screenplay; please note curly-cue font. That's to add whimsy. I feel with the Bush Presidency receding out of view, the time is ripe for a biopic about one of its most enigmatic operators.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (2)
So I was gearing up to blog about the stimulus bill based on this nifty chart from Pro Publica that Adam Doster at Progress Illinois brought up, but unfortunately more negotiations ensued so now I don't know exactly what the specifics of the current stimulus plan are. Does anybody know where I can find detailed info?
— Daniel Strauss / Comments (3)
Some folks, like the bankers the Trib's Greg Burns quoted today, are saying that a trillion is so big no one can grasp what the bailout and stimulus numbers really mean. A trillion is a big number, but it's not impossible to understand. It's a thousand billions, or a million millions. You know what a million is, right? It's more than you probably make, and more than you probably have.
But this daunting figure is so large only because the U.S. is a big country of over 300 million people. Anything we do on a national scale is now, by definition, a big number. Break it down by population, and a trillion is easier to understand. And since this is money that ultimately comes mainly from you and me, let's break it down by taxpayer.
— Jeff Smith / Comments (3)
Well, that's not what he says, that's what I say; what he does say, though, is enough to make you want to man the barricades. David Cay Johnston isn't a doctor, but he's got a therapy for what ails us:
Stop Indenturing Students
Over the past 40 years, the cost of public colleges has doubled, and financing tuition is an $85 billion a year business for credit companies. Sallie Mae, the biggest of the private student loan companies, earns an average 48 percent annual return, three times the return of commercial banks. Students who sign up for loans with what appear to be low fixed rates may discover upon graduating that they face an 18 percent rate; if they make a single late payment, late fees will be tacked on every month until the debt is paid off. And the law makes no allowance for students who can't find a job in a bad economy, or can't work because of illness, or choose to serve their communities by, say, joining Teach for America. Albert Lord, Sallie Mae's chief executive, has become so rich from student lending that he built his own private golf course just outside the nation's capital.
Profiteering off students is not just an obscenity; it ultimately weakens the economy. The abuses at Sallie Mae and other student lenders deserve exposure via congressional hearings. Then perhaps lawmakers will find the spine to make the rules fairer. Indenturing the brightest young minds in an information society is the equivalent of eating your seed corn in an agrarian one. In the long run, you're doomed.
Damn. And that's not the least of it.
Cay Johnston is an expert on the tax regime in this country. I was fortunate enough to meet him once -- he has a beard. Also he is grumpy. But then again, I'd be grumpy, too, if I spent my time discovering things like this:
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)
Congressman Don Manzullo (Republican, Illinois 16th) appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show on Wednesday to discuss his (and every other House Repulican's) 'no' vote on the economic stimulus bill. While Rep. Manzullo should be given credit for wading into enemy territory, particularly when it is occupied by the smart, incisive Maddow, his arguments demonstrated a core misunderstanding Republicans have about economic matters. Maddow repeatedly asked the congressman to explain how $200 million to renovate the National Mall is not stimulus. Ever the seasoned politician, Manzullo, rather than attempting to argue a point he was certain to lose, instead explained some GOP ideas for stimulus. The Illinois 16th is home to a Chrysler manufacturing facility, so fittingly enough, the congressman pitched his idea for a $5,000 voucher to purchase automobiles. (Manzullo specifically mentioned the Jeep Patriot, a car that receives a mediocre 28 mpg.)
— Carl Giometti / Comments (9)
Wow. That was quick.
In fewer than 3 days on the job (or 2 if you were one of those who was getting ready to sue because of the flubbed oath on Tuesday) President Obama has moved decisively to expand government transparency at the federal level.
Color me impressed.
On his second day in office, President Obama reopened WhiteHouse.gov to search engines. Just yesterday he issued a memo on FOIA requests, and made a forceful statement on the end of the unlawful detentions at Guantánamo Bay.
He's also made solid moves on ethics for White House staffers.
Now, Ramsin may not agree with this assessment, but the highest honor I can bestow upon the president today is that of Technocrat-in-Chief.
Since his time in the U.S. Senate when he co-sponsored a federal expenditure transparency bill with one of my congressional heroes Tom Coburn, Obama has been a consistent supporter of good government procedures.
— Richard Lorenc / Comments (0)
Courtesy of C-SPAN. Just in case, you know, you haven't been able to see it in its entirely!
I enjoyed the speech. Talking up many great American values in addition to saying the things that makes this nation great. As far as foreign affairs, Obama sounds quite hawkish. Perhaps his philosophy will be "speak softly but carry a big stick." Sounds like a great start already.
— Levois / Comments (0)
Contrarians are going to have a rough go of it for a while. That's OK, though; skepticism is easy when everybody agrees with you. It only counts when nobody wants to hear you.
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (4)
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Mechanics is the politics section of Gapers Block, reflecting the diversity of viewpoints and beliefs of Chicagoans and Illinoisans.
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