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Showing posts with label Jonathan Chait. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonathan Chait. Show all posts

Monday, August 01, 2011

Stories to Watch: 8/1/11

Did you hear about this debt limit thing? Turns out people don't like it much. Now here's the news...


Robert Reich hates the debt limit deal.


David Frum hates the debt limit deal.


Paul Krugman hates the debt limit deal.


Steve Benen hates the debt limit deal.


Robert Borosage hates the debt limit deal.


Mittens Romney hates the debt limit deal.


The New York Times editorial board hates the debt limit deal.


Jonathan Chait hates the debt limit deal.


Kevin Drum hates the debt limit deal.


John Bolton hates the debt limit deal.


Sen. Bernie Sanders hates the debt limit deal.


Erick Erickson hates the debt limit deal.


Dean Baker hates the debt limit deal.


Finally, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver hates the debt limit deal.

This may be the least popular piece of legislation to move through congress in your lifetime. What a dog.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Stories to Watch: 7/13/11

Wisconsin Governor Walker spoke at Gateway Technical College yesterday, celebrating 100 years of technical education in Wisconsin. This despite the fact that the governor cut funding for such schools by 30% and eliminated the teacher's bargaining rights. As you can imagine, this did not go well.


Now here's the news...


Another thing that didn't go well for Walker yesterday was the kickoff to the recall season. You might've heard that Republicans had put up fake Democrats to force primaries. Those primaries were last night and not a single fake dem won. Of course, this little exercise in futility cost the taxpayers nearly half a million dollars -- but that's only because Republicans are so fiscally responsible.


Harry Reid actually endorses -- albeit weakly -- Mitch McConnell's crazy-assed plan to weasel out of political responsibility for raising the debt limit. Then again, if Reid did it to discredit McConnell's idea with the Republican base, then it's working.


Are Republicans justs tryng to find the best position in the debt limit negotiations? Jonathan Chait writes that "the evidence that's leaked out about internal Republican deliberations suggests the Republicans are not shrewdly trying to maximize their leverage. They're just barking mad." A must-read.


Unintended consequence of the government shutdown in Minnesota; because bars can't renew their liquor purchasing licenses, many are starting to run dry. According to the report, "others may soon run out of cigarettes." I foresee rioting.


Things are getting serious now. GOP Rep. Peter King wants an FBI probe into News Corp's possible hacking of the phones of 9/11 victims. When high-profile Republicans start to turn on Rubert Murdoch, things are definitely headed south for him.


Texas Governor Rick Perry's past associations with racist, neo-confederate, literally America-hating groups comes back to haunt him.


Finally, Mitch McConnell has definitely blinked.


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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Stories to Watch: 5/28/11

I'm probably heading off to a street-fair type thingy today. Bratwurst and beer are one of the things that make Wisconsin more than worthwhile. Now here's the news...


Four months after the Tea Party freshmen were sworn in, the Washington Post looks at how things are going for them. The short take; not well.


Speaking of which, Politico takes a look at Republican efforts on the debt ceiling and finds their biggest problem; the freshmen are stupid, crazy, or stupid-crazy. "The reassuring part of it is that [GOP House Whip Kevin McCarthy] genuinely seems to be working hard to bring his members up to speed," comments Jonathan Chait. "The alarming part is that, hoo boy, they're starting from a pretty low point."


After a judge struck down his union-busting law, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker insists it'll still survive "one way or another." He's hoping for the state Supreme Court to overturn the ruling, but it pays to point out -- as I have been for some time now -- that Republicans could simply reschedule a vote to comply with the open meetings law and they're golden. They're not -- meaning the votes are no longer there. If this thing goes down in the legal system, it goes down for good.


Polling shows that Americans over-estimate the percentage of gays and lesbians in the US population. This strikes me as a great example of pointless polling -- what possible difference could it make?


RIP Gil Scott-Heron.


Finally, this is pretty cool.



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