First John Kerry gets quoted in Rolling Stone on his vote for the Iraq war saying he didn’t “expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did,” now…
Blunt-spoken Clark defends his patriotism
Moments after praising his opponents in the Democratic presidential race as worthy running mates, Wesley Clark said how he would respond if they or anyone else criticized his patriotism or military record.
“I’ll beat the s— out of them,” Clark said Saturday as he walked through the crowd after a town hall meeting in Derry, N.H.
“I hope that’s not on television,” he added.
It was – live – on C-SPAN.
The campaign’s traveling press secretary, Jamal Simmons, said he heard Clark’s answer but not the question. He called it “an unscripted comment from a blunt-spoken leader.”
The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report in October detailing how Federal policies have impacted the states: Federal Policies Contribute to the Severity of the State Fiscal Crisis, 10/17/03
Here’s a summary:
* Tax cuts have reduced state revenues
* Growth of Internet and catalog sales have deprived states of sales tax revenues
* Unfunded mandates such as homeland security, election reform, education of disabled children, and No Child Left Behind have imposed requirements on states without the funds needed to meet those requirements
* Shifts from Medicare (paid by the Feds) to Medicaid (43% paid by the states)
As you can see, some of this is a result of federal policy, while some of it is a result of a failure to enact policy in response to changes in society.
At the same time, analysis of state spending shows that spending increases were at historical lows, with spending increases higher during the Reagan/Bush, Kennedy/Johnson, and Truman/Eisenhower years.
State policies of cutting taxes in the last ten years have also contributed to the problem.
I think this man has made it onto my hero list multiple times in the past year. Let’s hope this economist turned thorn-in-Bush’s-side keeps it up.
New Year’s Resolutions
During the 2000 election, many journalists deluded themselves and their audience into believing that there weren’t many policy differences between the major candidates, and focused on personalities (or, rather, perceptions of personalities) instead. This time there can be no illusions: President Bush has turned this country sharply to the right, and this election will determine whether the right’s takeover is complete.
But will the coverage of the election reflect its seriousness? Toward that end, I hereby propose some rules for 2004 political reporting.
SM 488: Summer Code
I always liked Story Minute, though it was never political. Now it goes after the Bush administration at every opportunity. I like it even more now.
Click to see a larger version.
Hold’em
Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Bandur
Seat 2: Me
Seat 3: Eris
Seat 4: Cory
Seat 5: Jay
Bandur posts small blind $0.05
I post big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Eris calls $0.10
Cory calls $0.10
Jay calls $0.10
Bandur calls $0.05
I check
Pot is $0.50
*** FLOP *** [7h 5s 3c]
Bandur bets $0.15
I fold
Eris folds
Cory folds
Jay raises $0.15 to $0.30
Bandur calls $0.15
Pot is $1.10
*** TURN *** [7h 5s 3c] [5c]
Bandur checks
Jay bets $0.20
Bandur calls $0.20
Pot is $1.50
*** RIVER *** [7h 5s 3c 5c] [Ac]
Bandur bets $0.25
Jay raises $0.50 to $0.75
Bandur raises $0.50 to $1.25
Jay raises $0.50 to $1.75
Bandur calls $0.50
Pot is $5.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Bandur shows [2c 4c] (straight flush)
Jay shows [5d 5h] (four of a kind)
Bandur collects $5.00 from the pot and wears a shit-eating grin for all of five minutes
Jay goes outside to smoke a cigarette
I think that’s right. Pretty sure it’s right. The numbers add up, at any rate. The river action is definitely right.
