Politics

by hilzoy If we want our political news to involve something more heartening than debates about just how much torture we will allow this administration to practice, how many rights we’re prepared to strip from people who have never been charged with any crime, or whether to wreck our country’s finances and our international credibility … Read more

by hilzoy Consider the Senate primary in Washington, taking place even as I write this post. I was reading TPMCafe’s Midterm Madness Primary Roundup, which mentions some (but not all!) of the odder candidates. For starters, there’s Michael Goodspaceguy Nelson, running on a platform of orbital space colonization. And there’s Mike the Mover (his actual … Read more

by hilzoy Glenn Greenwald reports, and dKos’ McJoan confirms, that Harry Reid says that Democrats will not allow the Specter bill (which would give the President the authority to conduct his warrantless surveillance program, subject only to a review of the entire program by the FISA courts) to pass: “Sen. Reid stated flatly and unequivocally … Read more

by hilzoy From the NYT “Representative Bob Ney, Republican of Ohio, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges related to his dealings with the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, lawyers and others with knowledge of the investigation said Thursday. A guilty plea would make Mr. Ney, a six-term congressman, the first member of Congress … Read more

by Andrew Checking the news this morning, I see that Senator Lincoln Chafee held off Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in last night’s primary election in Rhode Island. Stipulating that it is by no means necessary to feel anything about all events, I read that and was unsure whether that was good news or bad. On … Read more

by von A first-rate foreign policy speech from David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader in the UK (and, if the polls hold, the next PM): fully appreciate the scale of the threat we face. I believe that the leadership of the United States, supported by Britain, is central to the struggle in which we are … Read more

by hilzoy Andrew Sullivan: “Next week, I’m informed via troubled White House sources, will see the full unveiling of Karl Rove’s fall election strategy. He’s intending to line up 9/11 families to accuse McCain, Warner and Graham of delaying justice for the perpetrators of that atrocity, because they want to uphold the ancient judicial traditions … Read more

by Andrew So I’m reading Senator Byron Dorgan’s new book, Take This Job and Ship It, and I get to the chapter where he’s talking about environmental problems. He points out some of the problems we face when foreign countries don’t force companies to bear the costs of their externalities, an important issue. He then … Read more

–Sebastian I’m not going to try to do an independent analysis of the recent NSA ruling when it has been done so well elsewhere  (see especially Volokh and Althouse).  In the fray, I noticed a post by a prominent legal scholar (and blogger) Jack Balkin which exhibits many of the characteristic attitudes toward the judiciary … Read more

by Andrew The rumblings can be heard on K Street. Steely-eyed men who put their money on the line are shifting where that money goes. Yes, Democrats are welcome again on K Street, a very good sign businesses think Congress’s power base will be shifting in November. And if the Democrats are in power, or … Read more

by hilzoy Today’s NYT has a piece by Daniel Okrent Byron Calame (thanks, lj: must drink more coffee), the Times’ ombudsman, on the publication of the NSA story. It reveals that the Times had the story before the 2004 elections, but held it back for several reasons: “In my January column, in which I refused … Read more

by Andrew "I didn’t do anything." "I don’t care." Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive Since I appear to have struck a nerve with my declaration I don’t particularly like either party, this seems a good opportunity to further stir up the commentariat. Or, perhaps, a chance for me to expand somewhat on … Read more

by hilzoy But stupid me had to go and read his column anyways. (Sorry; TimesSelect.) It’s about that recurring fantasy of DC pundits: the mythical McCain Lieberman party. Some excerpts: “The McCain-Lieberman Party begins with a rejection of the Sunni-Shiite style of politics itself. It rejects those whose emotional attachment to their party is so … Read more

by Andrew So Joementum, which wasn’t enough to carry Senator Joe Lieberman to the Democratic nomination in 2004, turns out to not even have enough power to win the Senator his party’s nomination for his Senate seat. Lieberman conceded about 11pm EDT last night, vowing to run as an independent. Personally, I’m always glad when … Read more

by hilzoy To my great delight, Rep. Bob Ney, aka “Representative #1” (from Jack Abramoff’s plea agreement(pdf)), has decided not to seek re-election: “Ultimately,” he said, “this decision came down to my family. I must think of them first, and I can no longer put them through this ordeal.” Good. It’s important that present and … Read more

by Andrew [In which I throw out ideas guaranteed to bring down the wrath of the ObWi comment horde down upon me.] Health care is a growing problem in the United States. Ironically, the problem is a result of health care’s great successes of the 20th century. Life expectancy and quality of life shot upwards … Read more

by hilzoy While thinking about Medicare Part D (the prescription drug plan), Mark Kleiman has had what he calls “a blinding flash of the obvious”. Many Medicare Part D plans are set up in the following way: You pay the first $250 Then the drug company pays 75% and you pay 25% until total spending … Read more

Over at QandO (link below the fold may not be work friendly so you might want to go to the website directly and scroll down), I see that Dale and his wife were in Balboa Park at the time of the Gay Pride Festival.  I didn’t know he lived in San Diego.  As it is … Read more

by Andrew "Ahhh…arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you." Ambassador Londo Mollari, Babylon 5 So the House leadership decided to pass a reduction of the estate tax and a minimum wage increase all in the same bill, presumably in the hopes they can get something they want in exchange for … Read more

By Sebastian Discussions about rules of warfare tend to mix and muddle the reasoning behind such rules.  A classic example of this is can be found here at CrookedTimber.  Of course the reason people don’t line up to be shot at, wearing proper uniforms, distinguishing themselves from the civilian population, and so on, is that … Read more

by Andrew Left-wingers all hate America, want to eliminate personal freedom in order to impose their own egalitarian ideas, drink lattes, are atheists who want to force everyone else to be atheists as well, and are Communist-wanna-bes. Right-wingers all hate gays, want to keep women subservient to men, worship an ignorant and bigoted God, watch … Read more

by Andrew Inspired by Liberal Japonicus, I thought I’d take a look at the relative merits of international law intended to create broad guidelines vs. ad hoc coalitions brought together to address specific problems. To be precise, the question is how to best handle issues considered in our national security when working in the international … Read more

by Andrew Mark me down as in complete agreement with Kevin Drum about signing statements. He notes that the minority in Hamdan cited President Bush’s signing statement to buttress the dissent. For those unfamiliar with them, signing statements are legal documents the President attaches to legislation he signs that outline his interpretation of what he … Read more

by hilzoy One reason I was interested in Bush’s remarks today is because I have been trying to find, somewhere, some sign that this administration is doing something to exercise leadership in the Middle East. If anyone else has seen one, let me know; some serious looking on my part has failed to uncover anything … Read more

by hilzoy Via Greg Djerejian, this astonishing remark by our President: “I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq where there’s a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same … Read more

by hilzoy Sound hyperbolic? Not really. From the WSJ (sorry, subscription wall), a story about a really great policy proposal: “The plan aims to address a problem in global drug markets: The countries that most need new treatments for diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis are those that can least afford to pay for them. … Read more

by Andrew How could I entrust a Democratic lawmaker to stand up to al-Qaeda, Iran, North Korea or some other angry extremist, if he or she won’t stand up to Daily Kos? So asks Jim Geraghty in a column about the Connecticut senate race between Senator Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont. The column is actually … Read more

by Andrew First, as should be obvious, I’m the new poster hilzoy mentioned. I’m a Major in the United States Army Reserve. I served ten years on active duty before moving to the reserves, and I’ve been on active duty since January 2003. I’ve been blogging since October 2001 over at andrewolmsted.com, and it’s an … Read more

by hilzoy Elizabeth Warren at TPMCafe reports that last week, Senators Jim Talent (R-MO) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) finally dealt with the problem of predatory lending aimed at the military. Payday lenders charge, on average, 400%APR; their rates can go over 800%APR. People often start out borrowing when they need an advance on their paycheck … Read more

by hilzoy So Joe Lieberman has made it official: he’s no longer either a Democrat or a democrat. He may say that he has been and will remain “a proud, loyal and progressive Democrat”, but now we know better. A loyal Democrat doesn’t decide to disregard the party’s primary just because he’s afraid he might … Read more

by hilzoy From the Washington Post: “A Medicaid rule takes effect tomorrow that will require more than 50 million poor Americans to prove their citizenship or lose their medical benefits or long-term care. Under the rule, intended to curb fraud by illegal immigrants, such proof as a passport or a birth certificate must be offered … Read more

by hilzoy Sometime in the next few days, I plan to see An Inconvenient Truth. (Finally, the various friends I want to see it with will all be both in town and free.) In preparation, I present the following inspiring story: Once upon a time, there was a looming environmental catastrophe. When a few scientists … Read more

by Sebastian– Hilzoy’s recent post on liberals and libertarianism (which attracted surprisingly few comments when compared to the other posts in the series) reminded me of something I wanted to talk about.  Since she specifically didn’t want to deal with it in that post I thought I would bring it to another thread rather than … Read more

by hilzoy From a friend from Connecticut with some experience in low-level party politics, a very perceptive person whose judgment I trust: “In 1980, when I was 20 years old, my parents bought me a three-piece suit. I didn’t have too many occasions to wear a suit, so when I arranged an interview with the … Read more