Mark Davis’ piece in U.S. News today suggests that the proper historical precedent for today’s crisis may not be the Great Depression of our parents’ and grandparents’ time, but the Long Depression that began with the Panic of 1873 and continued through the remainder of the 19th century. It’s not a heartening comparison, as that […]
When my son asks what good all the math he’s learning will do him later in life, I say it’s a very important skill to master if you want to be a speechwriter. He doesn’t appear to find this argument very compelling. Nevertheless, it’s true, especially when it comes to statistics. Most speechwriters worth their […]
With the thrill of passing a trillion dollar porkapalooza bill past them, it seems many Democrats are getting that queasy, hangover feeling as they wake up to the realization that they’re going to have to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Newsweek’s Howard Fineman reports today that the “establishment” is already in major […]
February 24, 2009 – 10:23 am
I’ve written before about the increasing disjunction between what Obama says and what he does. As Ed points out, however, the problem may be more basic – a complete inconsistency in thought that allows him to state two completely incompatible ideas in the same speech, if not quite the same sentence or paragraph, to wit: […]
February 13, 2009 – 11:34 am
This chart (hat tip, Power Line) shows the deficit as a percentage of GDP, with a projection for 2009 that includes expenditures under TARP I, TARP II and the Stimulator Pork Package. The most obvious thing is that we’re headed for a deficit over twice as large as under Ronald Reagan, but we hear nary […]
February 12, 2009 – 4:59 pm
Senator Gregg’s withdrawal from consideration as Commerce Secretary was principled and gracious. It was also smart, in at least two ways. This stimulus is a tar baby for any Republican who might be tempted to be associated with it. Gregg was wise to step away. The second smart thing was declaring up front that this […]
February 12, 2009 – 4:47 pm
My colleague, Kendall Bentz, sends along this hilarious compilation of John Stewart and Jay Leno goofs on Joe Biden, and points out that until and if they figure out how to make fun of Obama, Biden seems to have been designated the comedic fall guy.
February 12, 2009 – 3:26 pm
Re: Ed’s two posts about the recent line up of bankers “like a murderers row” before their Congressional interrogators, that’s the whole point of these exercises — Congressional dominance and private sector submission, if not outright humiliation. In the classic film, The Great Dictator, Chaplin as Hitler ushers Mussolini into a chair with sawed off […]
February 12, 2009 – 2:28 pm
Personally, I think Obama is driving this nation full speed down a socialist death spiral. But you’ve got to admire, in a grim sort of way, the élan with which he’s doing it – an élan that was on megawatt display when he answered Major Garrett’s potentially embarrassing press conference question about Joe Biden. To […]
February 11, 2009 – 3:36 pm
Update (3:35 pm) – I just received the press release with all of the details for tomorrow’s hearing. See them pasted below the jump. Call it the Geithner Effect: our new Treasury Secretary goes up to Congress (the very day the “stimulus” “ye dare not call it pork” plan passes) to unveil his new financial […]
February 10, 2009 – 10:52 am
As others have pointed out, one trillion dollars–which is what this stimulus “ye dare not call it pork” bill is going to cost–divided by 4 million jobs is……$250,000 per job! Where does one apply for one of these jobs? More to the point, wouldn’t it have been possible for at least one of our numerically-challenged […]
February 9, 2009 – 10:25 am
Question: how does the spirit of bipartisanship jibe with Obama’s message (which I paraphrase only slightly), “You lost, we won, so stuff it!” Of course, the administration can count on the mainstream media to carry its water for them. The Washington Post seized on the total of three Republicans to go along with the stimulus […]
February 7, 2009 – 3:14 pm
According to Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff, the Obama administration is searching for a phrase to replace the “War on Terror.” Good luck. This, of course, is the classic bureaucratic backwards approach to communications, in which people desperately search for just the right word or phrase to communicate a policy they can’t explain or an objective they […]
February 6, 2009 – 4:12 pm
John Adams may have had really terrible teeth (at least as portrayed in the excellent HBO miniseries by Paul Giamatti), but he was a powerful orator, in part because he took seriously his famous observation that “facts are stubborn things.” The full quote is: Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our […]
February 6, 2009 – 3:51 pm
I agree with Ed, but it doesn’t seem to me the Republicans are being obstructionist or even appearing that way, despite the President’s efforts to convey that impression. They’re not just standing athwart the stimulus bill saying “No,” they’re providing alternatives which might actually have a stimulatory effect and – another plus – seem to […]
