Circumstances beyond my control have led me to cut back severely on blogging over the past few weeks.
I hope to be back up to normal next week, although that probably won’t last for long since I usually take the last two weeks of December off completely.
My apologies to the [...]
Finally, some good news:
WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 10 percent in November as employers cut the smallest number of jobs since the recession began. The better-than-expected job figures are a rare note of encouraging news for the labor market.
Still, the respite may be temporary. Many economists [...]
The former Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska goes there:
Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama’s birth certificate.
“Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” she was asked (around 9 minutes into the video above).
“I [...]
No, I’m not kidding, she really did:
Nothing happens by coincidence. Take, for example, Obama’s announced Afghanistan policy tonight. Had it not been for the pressure of your Barnett lawsuit, and your brilliant motion for reconsideration, Dr. Orly, Obama would have [...]
Well, this is interesting:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday he will put a hold on the nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for a second term, a step that could push the confirmation into next year but would be unlikely to torpedo it.
While Sanders is one of [...]
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
H/T: Hot Air
A very interesting poll from Rasmussen:
Ben Bernanke begins the formal process tomorrow for confirmation to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, but 41% of Americans think President Obama should name someone new to the post.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 21% [...]
From Monday’s editions of the Washington Times
This latest national edition of the Washington Times features a full-page ad that claims that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. The ad was purchased by the anti-Obama website ProtectOurLiberty.org. While the group has placed several [...]
Jeffrey Anderson runs the numbers:
Senate Republicans have just released an outstanding chart highlighting the accounting games that Democrats are playing with the costs of their proposed health-care overhaul. The Democrats assert that their Senate bill would cost $848 billion over [...]
That’s what one person is asking:
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Til death do us part? The vow would really hold true in California if a Sacramento Web designer gets his way.
In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Channel writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot [...]
Given the fact that there were indications right up until the time of the vote that it would pass, this is disheartening:
ALBANY, N.Y. – New York lawmakers have rejected a bill to legalize gay marriage.
The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers [...]
I’m a bit late getting to this one, but when I saw this last night my jaw dropped:
I may not be blogging much today, but I’ve got a new column at Pajama’s Media about President Obama’s speech last night.
Go read it !
Some good news from the District of Columbia:
The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage in the District, as the city moves quickly to join five states in allowing gay couples to marry.
After months of debate, the council passed the bill 11 to 2. It still must take [...]
The man wanted in connection with the murder yesterday in Washington State of four police officers was previously paroled from a 95 year sentence thanks to then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee:
Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing this morning of four Lakewood police [...]
Apparently, the Swiss may be neutral but they aren’t very tolerant:
PARIS — Voters in Switzerland decided Sunday to ban the building of minarets, in a referendum that showed an unexpected level of resentment against Muslim immigrants in a country long known for discretion and tolerance.
Opinion polls in recent months [...]
This will be the only post of the day, and likely the last until sometime on Saturday or Sunday, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone. In case you’re interested, my wine recommendations from a few years ago still stand, so go out, buy some, and enjoy.
In the meantime, courtesy of one [...]
Well, I suppose this was inevitable:
CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS, who don’t believe in conventional medicine, are nonetheless keen to grab some of the cash the government will soon be splurging on health reform.
Church leaders want health insurers to reimburse “spiritual health” practitioners who pray for the sick, reports the Washington [...]
The numbers continue to look bad for the Democrat’s health care reform plans:
Just 38% of voters now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s the lowest level of support measured for the plan in nearly two dozen tracking polls conducted since June.
The latest [...]
Well, this is no surprise:
WASHINGTON - The economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace last quarter, as the recovery got off to a slower start than first thought.
The Commerce Department’s new reading on gross domestic product wasn’t as energetic as the 3.5 percent growth rate for the July-September period [...]
Shortly after Thanksgiving, we should know what the President has decided to do in Afghanistan:
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama held a final strategy session with top aides on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and plans to announce his decision within days, the White House said.
NBC News [...]
I was a guest on this week’s United Liberty podcast:
On November 16th, the national debt for our nation broke the $12 trillion dollar mark. Jason, Brett and Doug had joked on Twitter about getting together to “celebrate” this accomplishment by having a few drinks. Since geography [...]
One of these days Republicans are going to be back in power. Unless they understand why things went so wrong during the 2000-2006 period they will just make the same mistakes. I think it’s essential to the future success of conservatism that there be a full accounting of the failures [...]
NEW YORK (AP) - A lawyer for one of five men facing trial for the Sept. 11 attacks says the men plan to plead not guilty and use the trial to express their political views.
Attorney Scott Fenstermaker says his client Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and the [...]
Anne C. Heller, author of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about Rand’s days in Hollywood, and dropped a hint about a possible picture deal based on her biography:
My review of Heller’s book can be found here.
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Once again politics shows us what it has in common with the world’s oldest profession:
Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase.
On the eve of Saturday’s showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn’t secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of [...]
The state that helped light the fire that sent Barack Obama to the White House isn’t so pleased with him right now:
Fewer than half of Iowans approve of President Barack Obama’s performance in office a year after he carried the state in the 2008 election, according to The Des [...]
On a party-line vote:
WASHINGTON – Invoking the name of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.
The [...]
Senator Blanche Lincoln announced this afternoon that she will vote to open debate on the Senate health care package:
Sen. Blanche Lincoln is a yes for debating health reform, but a no for the public option, and she and fellow centrists are making clear they expect Senate Majority Leader Harry [...]
The game wasn’t nearly as close as the score makes it seem:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ohio State intercepted four passes by Michigan freshman Tate Forcier, and the OSU offense did just enough today to offer some breathing room as the Rose Bowl-bound Buckeyes gained their sixth straight victory in [...]
Oh wait, this is Washington, they don’t call it bribery, they call it “leverage”:
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said Friday night that she’s “leaning towards” voting to start debate on the health care bill – which would leave Democrats just a single vote shy of clearing a critical test for [...]
So what if Sarah Palin didn’t write this book? Even God used earthly scribes to write the Bible
No, I’m not kidding:
This does not bode well for the prospects of H.R. 1207 in the Senate:
A growing effort in the House to require periodic audits of the Federal Reserve is little more than “great PR,” one Republican senator stressed Friday.
Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson’s (D-Fla.) effort to subject much [...]
The national debt belongs to both parties. But at least the Democrats don’t go on Fox News day after day proclaiming how fiscally conservative they are, and organize tea parties to rant about deficits, without ever putting forward any plan for reducing them. Nor do they pretend that they have [...]
Jennifer Burns, author of Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, spoke to Reason.tv recently about her new book:
My review of Burns’ biography can be found here.
And, yes Sarah Palin did support the TARP bailout.
These people walk among us, and they vote.
More bad poll numbers for the White House:
PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Daily tracking results [...]
In a word, wow:
Senator John McCain’s future in the U.S. Senate may be a little less assured than previously thought.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent in a virtual tie with potential challenger J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% [...]
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