Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process – NYTimes.com
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process – NYTimes.com
A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.
I don’t particularly care about her background but it seems that McCain (and his campaign organization) didn’t talk to Palin until he had decided on her, which seems strange. If nothing else, if I were the Presidential candidate I’d talk to the people I was considering for the Vice Presidential ticket and ask them why (or even if!) they’d want to be the candidate and about their background.
Way To Rub It In
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Judge rules White House aides can be subpoenaed – International Herald Tribune
Bates, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, issued a 93-page opinion that strongly rejected the administration’s legal arguments. He noted that the executive branch could not point to a single case in which courts held that White House aides were immune from congressional subpoenas.
“That simple yet critical fact bears repeating: the asserted absolute immunity claim here is entirely unsupported by existing case law,” Bates wrote.
Nice!
Those Ungrateful Bastards!
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008Normally I really like Roger Cohen’s columns but today’s, “The EU in an Irish bog,” is atrocious. He buys hook, line and sink into the rediculous argument that because the Irish have benefitted significantly from EU membership their No vote is dumb, crass, ungrateful, etc, etc. He even says their voting was ‘unconscionable’! I hate this attitude towards politics, as it reduces people’s options to the ‘right choice’ or being guilty of false consciousness.
Pot, Kettle
Thursday, May 8th, 2008Bushs veto threat provokes skirmish on housing bill – International Herald Tribune
Bush, in threatening to veto Franks bill, has called on Congress to pass those two measures as stand-alone legislation. As Democrats tried to bring their bill to the floor on Wednesday, House Republicans threw up procedural roadblocks, including a series of votes on motions to adjourn.
The majority leader, Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, gave a floor speech early in the evening accusing the Republicans of an “abuse of process.”
In response, the Republican leader, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, accused the Democrats of cutting Republicans out of the legislative process.
“We dont have many ways to express our grievance on the housing bill because we have no amendment we can offer,” Boehner said. “All we are asking is to be treated fairly.”
What goes around, comes around, and every time it’s stupid.
A Peculiar Type of Populism
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill – New York Times
The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative energy producers and other struggling industries, as well as home builders.
The tax provisions of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which consumer groups and labor leaders say amount to government handouts to big business, show how the credit crisis, while rattling the housing and financial markets, has created beneficiaries in the power corridors of Washington.It also shows how legislation with a populist imperative offers a chance for lobbyists to press their clients’ interests.
Every day is government handout day!
Constituents
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008In Washington, a Split Over Regulation of Wall Street – New York Times
The Treasury Department is rushing to complete its own blueprint for overhauling what is now an alphabet soup of federal and state regulators that often compete against each other and protect their particular slices of the industry as if they were constituents.
But maybe they are constituents, or more. For instance, Michael Powell was the head of the FCC and ruled on some issues involving AOL. His father, Colin Powell, was a one-time member of AOL’s board.
Update: On the second page of the article there is this telling bit of information.
Except for the Federal Reserve, all of the federal bank agencies receive funding from fees paid by member institutions, and some specialists have long argued that the agencies competed with each other to woo institutions with lighter regulation.
Cynics: Realists you don’t agree with yet
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
“Oppressions Other Than Love: Pakistan in a Rainy Seasonâ€
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008My friend Qalandar has gone back to Pakistan and has been working for democracy. Below is the introduction to his editorial for the next issue of Naked Punch. I hope you enjoy it.
A renowned poem of Faiz Ahmed Faiz was brought to my attention last night. Sitting for dinner in a restaurant in Lahore the one-man entertainment with his key-board and mike walked up to my table and kindly asked if I had a request. ‘Yes, A ghazal…of Faiz’, I replied. Happy to be playing something other then the latest Bollywood film song he returned to his keyboard and began to sing:
That which was ours, my love,
Don’t ask me for that love againThe poem of Faiz goes on:
but there were other sorrows, comforts other than love.
The rich had cast their spell on history:
Dark centuries had been embroidered on brocades and silks.
Bitter threads began to unravel before me
As I went into alleys and in open markets
Saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood.
I saw them sold and bought, again and again.
This too deserves attention. I can’t help but look back
When I return from those alleys – what should one do?
And you still are so ravishing – what should I do?
There are other sorrows in this world,
Comforts other than love.
Don’t ask me, my love, for that love again.
And here is the actual document: Oppressions Other Than Love (DOC, 152 kb)
