This is the new line touted mostly by the conservative side– all these campaign donations are insignificant, making the absurd argument that we spend more each year on irrelevant and unrelated things like yogurt or halloween candy, that the cash spent on campaigns is of negligible effect on the election outcomes, and, finally, that the threat of foreign influence on our elections through these funding channels is also negligible. Nothing to see here, move along.
David Brooks spouted this exact same nonsense in his op-ed column in the NY Times earlier this week, replete with a host of imaginary numbers to cloud just how much is being spent on both sides then claiming that, in the end, all the cash shoveled into this mid-term election has no real influence on the outcome, going so far as to claim that these multimillion dollar donations are more for the ‘feel-good’ effect they offer the donors than for the spoils that would most assuredly come back to them once their chosen candidates are declared victorious.
I think it’s obscene the amount of money spent by both sides of the aisle during these elections and am troubled by the anonymous nature of so many of these donations, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how best to correct it without running afoul of the Bill of Rights. Free speech is free speech even if you’re not always happy with the outcome. If a corporation wants to support a candidate, I’m guessing it should be allowed to do so just as labor unions and other large organizations can.
I do think, however, that these corporate institutions should not be able to hide behind anonymity when making these donations. All donations by corporations should have the company’s tax identification number on the donation check. Since the Citizens United ruling judged these corporations as having the same rights as individuals, perhaps their donations should be capped at the same totals as individuals. If Proctor & Gamble wants to give to candidate X, allow them to donate at the same limits as Mr. Proctor N. Gamble.
Another, more drastic solution would be to rule that the First Amendment doesn’t apply and set a federally-funded limit for all candidates. Allow every candidate an equivalent amount of campaign funds and airtime for commercials, eliminate third-party advertising, and leave it at that. Otherwise, it will soon reach the point where the total spent during an election cycle meets or exceeds the GDP of third world countries.
Didn’t he once say he’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? Well, the chances of a “really good” first term are pretty much shot, so I guess now it’s mediocrity or bust. Shoot for the stars, champ!
President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as “completely unfounded” reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“Obviously, I haven’t made any formal decision” on reelection, the president told National Journal in an exclusive 45-minute interview, “but I feel like I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”
Told that his answer sounded like he was saying “yes,” Obama nodded, then broadly smiled. “Take it as you will,” he said, laughing.
Obama bluntly dismissed suggestions, first raised by author Bob Woodward, that he might replace Biden with Clinton for the 2012 race.
Lest you think he’s bluffing, Axelrod is already starting to inch away from The One’s stance against Democratic outside groups with anonymous donors spending big money on elections. The old rule: No outside groups, please. The soon-to-be new rule: Yes, outside groups, please, but kindly disclose your contributors. As I said a few days ago, surely no one (including Harry Reid) found Sharron Angle’s mammoth third-quarter fundraising haul as frightening as the White House did, simply because it’s an early sign of how much money the conservative base will cough up in 2012 to knock Obama out of office. Axelrod will need all hands on deck to keep up, notwithstanding The One’s already legendary fundraising powers from 2008. So here’s his signal to lefty PACs to get in the game.
Even so, will it be enough? Mickey Kaus:
What comments [about voters being "scared"] suggest isn’t just that Obama will get clobbered in the midterms. It suggests that after he gets clobbered he won’t be able to adjust and turn the setback into a longterm victory the way Bill Clinton did. Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform. Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.
A few weeks ago a right-wing reporter told me that worried Dem congresspersons who met with Obama left their meetings more worried than when they went in. I discounted the gossip, but now it’s beginning to ring true. We thought he was a great salesman. He turned out to be a lousy salesman. We thought he was a great politician. Instead he makes elementary mistakes and doesn’t learn from them. He didn’t know “shovel-ready” from a hole in the ground, and then somehow thinks admitting this ignorance without apology will add to his appeal.
I’d still defend most of the decisions Obama’s made, especially on health care refom. I’d rather have him making those decisions than 85% of the likely Republican candidates. But for the first time, he’s looking like a one-termer, even if the jobs start to come back.
It’s hard to imagine any incumbent losing if unemployment is trending downwards, especially after a sustained economic crisis, and it’s hard to imagine The One being so stupid as to stay in his liberal cocoon knowing that it would put the center of the electorate in play for 2012. Peter Beinart predicted a few weeks ago that Obama will actually tack left after the election on the theory that presidents tend to revert to campaign form when they get in trouble, but of course to hear David Brooks or Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley tell it, Obama wasn’t a hard leftist during the campaign at all. He was an omnicompetent post-partisan pragmatist, eager to solve America’s problems by trying whatever would work. If he does revert to form, that’s the form he’ll revert to — which means he’ll try to make whatever deals he can with the new GOP House to push some compromise legislation through to pander to centrists. And then, if he gets reelected, he’ll govern as an even harder-left liberal in his second term. Good luck in 2012, moderate voters!
Exit question: If you were a lefty president terrified that your base of young voters will stay home on election day, which show would you appear on a few nights before to plead with them to go to the polls? Bingo.
"Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
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News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
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bench craft company complaints
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"Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: MoveOn woman kicked & stomped by 'Libertarian <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
This is the new line touted mostly by the conservative side– all these campaign donations are insignificant, making the absurd argument that we spend more each year on irrelevant and unrelated things like yogurt or halloween candy, that the cash spent on campaigns is of negligible effect on the election outcomes, and, finally, that the threat of foreign influence on our elections through these funding channels is also negligible. Nothing to see here, move along.
David Brooks spouted this exact same nonsense in his op-ed column in the NY Times earlier this week, replete with a host of imaginary numbers to cloud just how much is being spent on both sides then claiming that, in the end, all the cash shoveled into this mid-term election has no real influence on the outcome, going so far as to claim that these multimillion dollar donations are more for the ‘feel-good’ effect they offer the donors than for the spoils that would most assuredly come back to them once their chosen candidates are declared victorious.
I think it’s obscene the amount of money spent by both sides of the aisle during these elections and am troubled by the anonymous nature of so many of these donations, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how best to correct it without running afoul of the Bill of Rights. Free speech is free speech even if you’re not always happy with the outcome. If a corporation wants to support a candidate, I’m guessing it should be allowed to do so just as labor unions and other large organizations can.
I do think, however, that these corporate institutions should not be able to hide behind anonymity when making these donations. All donations by corporations should have the company’s tax identification number on the donation check. Since the Citizens United ruling judged these corporations as having the same rights as individuals, perhaps their donations should be capped at the same totals as individuals. If Proctor & Gamble wants to give to candidate X, allow them to donate at the same limits as Mr. Proctor N. Gamble.
Another, more drastic solution would be to rule that the First Amendment doesn’t apply and set a federally-funded limit for all candidates. Allow every candidate an equivalent amount of campaign funds and airtime for commercials, eliminate third-party advertising, and leave it at that. Otherwise, it will soon reach the point where the total spent during an election cycle meets or exceeds the GDP of third world countries.
Didn’t he once say he’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? Well, the chances of a “really good” first term are pretty much shot, so I guess now it’s mediocrity or bust. Shoot for the stars, champ!
President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as “completely unfounded” reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“Obviously, I haven’t made any formal decision” on reelection, the president told National Journal in an exclusive 45-minute interview, “but I feel like I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”
Told that his answer sounded like he was saying “yes,” Obama nodded, then broadly smiled. “Take it as you will,” he said, laughing.
Obama bluntly dismissed suggestions, first raised by author Bob Woodward, that he might replace Biden with Clinton for the 2012 race.
Lest you think he’s bluffing, Axelrod is already starting to inch away from The One’s stance against Democratic outside groups with anonymous donors spending big money on elections. The old rule: No outside groups, please. The soon-to-be new rule: Yes, outside groups, please, but kindly disclose your contributors. As I said a few days ago, surely no one (including Harry Reid) found Sharron Angle’s mammoth third-quarter fundraising haul as frightening as the White House did, simply because it’s an early sign of how much money the conservative base will cough up in 2012 to knock Obama out of office. Axelrod will need all hands on deck to keep up, notwithstanding The One’s already legendary fundraising powers from 2008. So here’s his signal to lefty PACs to get in the game.
Even so, will it be enough? Mickey Kaus:
What comments [about voters being "scared"] suggest isn’t just that Obama will get clobbered in the midterms. It suggests that after he gets clobbered he won’t be able to adjust and turn the setback into a longterm victory the way Bill Clinton did. Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform. Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.
A few weeks ago a right-wing reporter told me that worried Dem congresspersons who met with Obama left their meetings more worried than when they went in. I discounted the gossip, but now it’s beginning to ring true. We thought he was a great salesman. He turned out to be a lousy salesman. We thought he was a great politician. Instead he makes elementary mistakes and doesn’t learn from them. He didn’t know “shovel-ready” from a hole in the ground, and then somehow thinks admitting this ignorance without apology will add to his appeal.
I’d still defend most of the decisions Obama’s made, especially on health care refom. I’d rather have him making those decisions than 85% of the likely Republican candidates. But for the first time, he’s looking like a one-termer, even if the jobs start to come back.
It’s hard to imagine any incumbent losing if unemployment is trending downwards, especially after a sustained economic crisis, and it’s hard to imagine The One being so stupid as to stay in his liberal cocoon knowing that it would put the center of the electorate in play for 2012. Peter Beinart predicted a few weeks ago that Obama will actually tack left after the election on the theory that presidents tend to revert to campaign form when they get in trouble, but of course to hear David Brooks or Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley tell it, Obama wasn’t a hard leftist during the campaign at all. He was an omnicompetent post-partisan pragmatist, eager to solve America’s problems by trying whatever would work. If he does revert to form, that’s the form he’ll revert to — which means he’ll try to make whatever deals he can with the new GOP House to push some compromise legislation through to pander to centrists. And then, if he gets reelected, he’ll govern as an even harder-left liberal in his second term. Good luck in 2012, moderate voters!
Exit question: If you were a lefty president terrified that your base of young voters will stay home on election day, which show would you appear on a few nights before to plead with them to go to the polls? Bingo.
bench craft company complaints
"Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: MoveOn woman kicked & stomped by 'Libertarian <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
"Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: MoveOn woman kicked & stomped by 'Libertarian <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
"Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: MoveOn woman kicked & stomped by 'Libertarian <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
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