"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
hilzoy by hilzoy Last March, Barack Obama gave a good speech on the subprime crisis in which he made a very important point: “We need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are. Over the last few years, commercial banks and thrift institutions were subject to guidelines on subprime mortgages that did not … Read more
by hilzoy One of the odder things about me is that I’m almost an animist when it comes to houses. It’s not that I actually believe they are alive, but I think things like: every house deserves to have someone who loves it. They can’t maintain themselves, after all, and if they’re doing their best … Read more
by hilzoy James Pethokoukis in US News (h/t Sullivan): “Recently, I stumbled across this analysis of how nationalized healthcare in Great Britain affected the political environment there. As Norman Markowitz in Political Affairs, a journal of “Marxist thought,” puts it: “After the Labor Party established the National Health Service after World War II, supposedly conservative … Read more
by hilzoy I’m quite impressed by the way Barack Obama’s cabinet is shaking out. Eric Holder seems to be a superb choice for Attorney General, as is Janet Napolitano for Homeland Security. I’m really happy about Daschle at HHS — both because I think it raises the chances that we’ll actually get a serious health … Read more
by hilzoy From TPM: “Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed this evening while giving a speech to Federalist Society in Washington, DC. (…) As best we can tell no news service has any new substantive information about the AG’s health, other than the initial news that he began slurring his speech and then shaking and then … Read more
by hilzoy Today is the Transgender Day Of Remembrance, on which we remember those who were murdered because they were transmen or transwomen. Last year there were thirty such murders that we know of; there were surely many that happened unrecorded. It’s worth reading this list, and thinking of them. Donna Rose: “These things are … Read more
by hilzoy Steve Benen flagged an op-ed in the WSJ that has to be in the running for Dumbest Column Ever. It starts with fairly conventional War on Christmas stuff: “Christmas, the holiday that dare not speak its name.” Right. But then it launches itself off into the great empyrean of stupid: “This year we … Read more
by hilzoy Well, this is interesting: “The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said, Congress should require all Americans to have coverage. (…) The industry’s position differs from that of Mr. Obama … Read more
by hilzoy Today’s rumors seem less speculative than most, so I’m going to break with normal practice and report them. First, the National Journal reports that Obama will make Peter Orszag to head up the Office of Management and Budget. Orszag is now at the Congressional Budget Office; I think he’s very good. Second, all … Read more
by hilzoy In the Alaska Senate race, Mark Begich now leads Ted Stevens by 3724 votes. The AP has called the race for Begich: “Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn’t survive a … Read more
by hilzoy From the AP: “Barack Obama’s incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and human rights groups to investigate … Read more
by hilzoy Over the weekend, I wrote that Will Wilkinson was wrong to think that a general recitation of the virtues of free markets was sufficient to show that bailing out Detroit was a bad idea, and that in order to make his case, he needed to consider the specifics of this situation. Now Jonah … Read more
by hilzoy From the WSJ: “All around Washington, policy makers are scrambling to figure out how to get banks lending again. Lawmakers have criticized banks for not using new federal money to make loans and have threatened to place conditions on additional money. Regulators last week sent out a directive, encouraging banks not to hold … Read more
by hilzoy An awful story from the Washington Post: “Rob Foster was 16 when his family unraveled. He had told his parents that he wanted to leave Calvary Temple, the Pentecostal church in Sterling the family had attended for decades. But church leaders were blunt with his parents: Throw your son out of the house, … Read more
by hilzoy From the Hartford Courant: “Senate Democrats will decide by secret ballot Tuesday whether to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman’s chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — a post from which he oversees U.S. security issues, as well as the operations of a wide segment of the federal government.” To my … Read more
by hilzoy Just to build on publius’ post: what bothers me about Will Wilkinson’s argument is not exactly its callousness so much as the sense I have that he is arguing with people who do not exist. Specifically: “There is nothing that helps people more than high rates of economic growth, compounding, compounding. But everyone … Read more
by hilzoy Via Paul Kedrofsky, here’s a gorgeous and heartbreaking account of economic collapse in Iceland: “Trust in the banks had evaporated and people were trying to find a safe haven for their cash. One man had waited for six hours in a bank while his life savings, more than £1m in kronur (at IKr200 … Read more
by hilzoy The American Prospect: “In Loveland, Colorado — population 61,000, 92 percent white and heavily evangelical Christian — Michelle didn’t know what to expect when she began to work with the school to facilitate her daughter’s transition from a boy to a girl. At first, it was difficult. The school “freaked out when I … Read more
by hilzoy Mark Begich is now leading Ted Stevens by 814 votes in the Alaska Senate race. Nate Silver Sean Quinn: “The remaining votes come from Begich-friendly districts. Mark Begich is now an overwhelming favorite to win the Alaska Senate seat.” We might be spared the question what to do if a felon is elected … Read more
by hilzoy Peter Suderman does not know what this statement by Sarah Palin means: “Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states … Read more
by hilzoy Today is Veterans’ Day. It’s not the only day when I am grateful to our veterans, and certainly not the only day when I remember those who died or were injured in combat. But it is one of the days when I try to say: thank you. My thoughts are with you. I … Read more
by hilzoy Here’s a disturbing story: “The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration’s request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention. But corporate tax lawyers … Read more
by hilzoy I’ve been mulling over the election, and it occurred to me that liberal blogs are about to be faced with an interesting question, namely: how much should we trust Barack Obama? I assume that the answer is obviously not: completely, let alone: blindly. Even were I tempted to blind trust, which I’m not, … Read more
by hilzoy A few days ago, Timothy Burke wrote: “It’s schadenfreudey fun to read the ongoing psychotic meltdowns at various far-right sites like the Corner, I agree. But there’s little need to take the really bad-faith conservatives seriously now. For the last eight years, we’ve had to take them somewhat seriously because they had access … Read more
by hilzoy From the Washington Post: “Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working … Read more
by hilzoy (1) Sometime during the primaries, for no obvious reason, it occurred to me to reflect on the question: suppose I were a black parent: how would I handle the conversation with my child about whether or not she could be President? The idea that in America anyone can be President is so basic … Read more
by hilzoy John McCain just gave a truly gracious concession speech. I particularly liked the way he seemed to be urging his supporters to give Obama their complete support, not to forget that Obama will, in fact, be their President. It would have been an easy thing to somehow forget to say. It was an … Read more
by hilzoy From Clusterstock: “In a move that is sure to put to rest the notion that there are no second acts in American life, former Bear Stearns chief risk officer Michael Alix has landed a job in the office of the Federal Reserve charged with assessing the safety and soundness of domestic banking institutions. … Read more
by hilzoy By popular request, an election day open thread.
by hilzoy Eric has already noted this post by Kevin Drum: “Back in 2004, I remember at least a few bloggers and pundits arguing that liberals would be better off if John Kerry lost. I never really bought this, but the arguments were pretty reasonable. Leaving George Bush in power meant that he’d retain responsibility … Read more
by hilzoy Meteor Blades at dKos wrote a piece today arguing that if Obama wins, he should not name Chuck Hagel Secretary of State Defense (oops!). (I agree.) In the course of his argument, he cites Ilan Goldenberg’s argument that Obama should not name any Republican to that position: “Appointing a Republican Secretary of Defense … Read more
by hilzoy Here’s an interesting piece by Jay Newton-Small at Time: “Almost two years ago, in the first months of Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency, whenever the Illinois senator would get crowds going he would intentionally dial it down a notch. I remember seeing him in Columbia on his first trip to South Carolina … Read more
by hilzoy You may, by now, have heard about the prank call made to Sarah Palin by two Canadian comics pretending to be Nicholas Sarkozy. If not, here it is: And here’s the Palin campaign’s response: “Gov. Palin received a phone call on Saturday from a French Canadian talk show host claiming to be French … Read more
by hilzoy Check out this video of 8-10 hour voting lines in Atlanta. It’s pretty astonishing. It’s also something that should never, ever happen. Christopher Edley: “Suppose in your neighborhood there are 600 registered voters per machine, while across town there are only 120 per machine. (That’s a 5 to 1 disparity, which is what … Read more
by hilzoy Rick Hasen on the various charges of voter registration fraud and voter suppression: “The solution is to take the job of voter registration for federal elections out of the hands of third parties (and out of the hands of the counties and states) and give it to the federal government. The Constitution grants … Read more