Two links stolen from Genehack to give you a creepy feeling in the pit of your stomach: 1) Dubya declared yesterday “Loyalty Day.” 2) The State Department thinks Canada cares too much about civil liberties. A connection, perhaps?
Category: Politics (2002-2004)
Grey Poupon Economics.
Conceding defeat on the full dividend debacle (while still planning evasive maneuvers to make sure it’s as large as possible), the Congressional GOP now shift their focus to another Republican shibboleth: a capital gains cut. One way or another, it seems, the GOP are hell-bent on ensuring that the wealthiest Americans catch some kind of break from the Dubya dip.
Time Bandits.
With the House GOP prepared to make a deal with moderates, the White House unrolls a new pitch for the “future-embezzling” Dubya dividend debacle. Arguing that bigger is better on the assumption that there’s a 1-1 relationship between low taxes and more jobs, Dubya’s simplistic proposition has even ticked off GOP economists. (As one Republican put it when queried whether Dubya’s fuzzy math makes sense, “I suppose it matters whether you think economics matters.”) Meanwhile, Bill “kittenkiller” Frist takes the blame for congressional in-fighting on the size of the tax cut.
Hedging their Bets.
In the wake of Dubya’s embrace of preemption, historian Joyce Appleby wonders whatever happened to Congress as a center of foreign policy. As James Madison put it, “The constitution supposes, what the History of all Govts demonstrates, that the Ex. is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legisl. But the Doctrines lately advanced strike at the root of all these provisions, and will deposit the peace of the Country in that Department which the Constitution distrusts as most ready without cause to renounce it.” Looks like recent experience has proven him right.
The Battle of Concord.
Sensing a misstep on the military question, John Kerry launches into Howard Dean, his most potent rival in the New Hampshire primary. For their part, the Dean camp counters by accusing Kerry of Gore-like evasiveness. Meanwhile, on another front, Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect suggests Dean is using the Gore playbook in his attacks on Gephardt’s health plan. I still run hot and cold on John Kerry, but I must say, hiring Gore flunky Chris Lehane as his campaign spokesman clearly goes in the minus column…he may be good at his job, but Lehane still exudes Gore’s insincerity. At any rate, with less a week until the first debate, it’s definitely on.
Angling for the Cabal Vote.
Ok, Gephardt may have a health plan, but Howard Dean has a blog. (Via Breaching the Web.) It’s going to be fascinating watching how these candidates work to differentiate themselves in the coming months. There can be only one…
Francophobia.
Utilizing a technique he learned in his fratboy hazing days, Dubya decides to freeze France out for her opposition to the war in Iraq. Along the same lines, Bushies are now trying to deride Kerry by saying he looks French. (Why not tell the American people he’s got cooties, while you’re at it?) Yes, folks, these people run the country.
War on the Floor.
As the Republican rift over the Dubya tax cut widens, conservatives prepare to oust anti-cut GOP moderates like Olympia Snowe, John McCain, and Arlen Specter. As a result, Specter tries to shore up his freak-show-right creds by joining Majority Leader Bill Frist in defending Rick Santorum’s outbreak of gaybashing (calling Santorum a “voice for inclusion and compassion” is a bit much, isn’t it?). Snowe and Chafee, for their part, have condemned Santorum’s remarks (Via Medley.) While I’m all for the GOP imploding, isnt it about time for the Dems to pile on the heat? To paraphrase Carville, when your opponent is drowning, throw him an anvil.
Think Different.
Dick Gephardt tries to separate from the Democratic herd by offering a bold health care proposal that also repeals the ridiculous Dubya tax cuts. It was interesting to read of Gephardt’s proposal right after finishing Jacob Hacker’s The Divided Welfare State, since his proposal buttresses Hacker’s main point. Rather than develop a new public health care infrastructure a la the 1994 Clinton plan, Gephardt’s plan basically follows the path of least resistance and subcontracts health care out to private insurance companies. This will no doubt make it easier to pass in our neo-con political climate than the ’94 Clinton bill. That being said, as Hacker notes, letting the private sector run our social welfare regime severely cuts back on the redistributive potential of health care reform. But, hey, private universal health care coverage is better than no universal health care coverage. And it’s a smart move by Gephardt to appeal to the base.
Incommunicado.
Still enjoying their post-Iraq high, the Dubya White House decides they no longer have to answer questions from the press or anyone else. I’m reminded of the zinger posted here: “Ari Fleischer is the first press secretary in American History whose conferences result in a net loss of information.”