That’s What I Call A Loophole…

In discussing legal possibilities vs. tradition vis a vis the Senate filibuster rules, Matthew Yglesias pens an interesting legal scenario.After all, a lot of things are possible in our system. To the best of my understanding, nothing is stopping Rahm Emannuel from sauntering onto the floor of the Senate, murdering Republicans from states with Democratic governors in cold blood, having ...

Obama “Keeping An Eye” On Robots

Surely no matter whether we identify as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, we can all agree with President Obama's statement regarding robotics.Now, the students from Oakton High School are going to be demonstrating the Cougar Cannon designed to scoop up and toss moon rocks. I am eager to so what they do, for two reasons. As president, I believe that robotics ...

Private Forecasters Support Claim That Stimulus Worked

Back when the stimulus bill was passed, I have to say that I was opposed to it. When the White House claimed it was working, I pretty much scoffed. So I have to admit that I was taken aback to read this article, which indicates that professional economic forecasters support the claim that the stimulus has made the ...

How Much Will Escalation Cost?

The L.A. Times has a fascinating article about the difficulties in accounting for estimated costs in a troop surge in Afghanistan. The calculations so far have produced a sweeping range. The Pentagon publicly estimates it will cost $500,000 a year for every additional service member sent to the war zone. Obama's budget experts size it up at twice that much. [...] The Office ...

A Question About Bonuses and Bailouts

I was reading this Megan McArdle post about the federal government restricting bonuses to AIG employees. As I was reading, I came across this sentence: To wit: the traders at AIG are threatening to walk if Ken Feinberg pays them what he says he's going to pay them, particularly if the company tries too hard to withhold the retention ...

Republican Purity and Conservatism

It appears that the Republican National Committee is working on a set of principles that Republican candidates have to adhere to in order to receive funding and support from the RNC. There are ten principles listed, and the candidates have to adhere to at least seven of these principles "as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed ...

Douthat Blogging Again

A few months ago, when Ross Douthat became a New York Times columnist, I was pretty excited that the Times had chosen a fresh, conservative perspective for its editorial pages. Since then, I admit I've been a little disappointed. Douthat's columns have, by and large, been pretty lackluster--there was none of the depth, wit, or thoughtfulness that made ...

Pfizer Abandons Property It Stole From Kelo

I missed this story last week, but apparently Pfizer is abandoning its New London headquarters, and the land that it used the power of government to steal from Kelo et al. now lays fallow. Susette Kelo's little, pink house in New London, Conn. -- like the houses of all her neighbors -- is now a pile of rubble, overgrown with weeds. ...

Reading the Bill is a Waste of Time

Bruce Bartlett articulates something that I've been wanting to write about for a while about the "read the bill" nonsense, and since he did a better job of it than I would have, I'll just direct you to him: The 1,990-page length of the health reform bill is once again bringing forth demands that members of Congress be required to read ...

Oklahoma High Schoolers Are Very Familiar With George Washington, Thanks

You may recall that a couple of months ago, there was a "shocking survey" circulating around which showed that only 23% of Oklahoma students knew that George Washington was the first President of the United States. At the time, my colleague James expressed his extreme skepticism of this result, a skepticism shared by most of the commenters. Well, ...

Pentagon Expected To Ask For Supplementary War Funding. As Usual.

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when Congress passed a $680 billion appropriation? Well, don't worry--the military will be getting still more money:The nation’s top military officer said Wednesday that he expected the Pentagon to ask Congress in the next few months for emergency financing to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though President Obama has pledged ...

Health Reform Bill to Allow Insurance Payments For Prayer Healings

Via Kevin Drum, I have learned that current Senate version of the health reform bill would provide for insurance payments for Christian Science prayer treatments--and probably other "spiritual" treatments as well.Reporting from Washington - Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian ...

Ford Posts 3Q09 Profit

Ford Motor Companies, the only major American automobile company to adequately prepare for a future where fewer cars are manufactured, and the only one not to receive signficant government handouts in the past year, posted a proft last quarter.Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F - News) posted a quarterly profit on Monday, defying Wall Street forecasts for a loss as it cut ...

The Cost of Empire

Last week, Congress approved the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill, with costs totalling to a whopping $680 billion. And as Christopher Preble points out, that's not all:The defense bill represents only part of our military spending. The appropriations bill moving through Congress governing veterans affairs, military construction and other agencies totals $133 billion, while the massive Department of Homeland Security ...

Defending Wyden-Bennett

On his new policy blog at True/Slant, E.D. Kain provides a good defense of the Wyden-Bennett Act.In Congress, however, we get bad compromises, not good ones, which is why we have the Baucus bill, which is neither as cost-effective, as close to universal coverage, or as fundamentally game-changing as Wyden-Bennett. Indeed, there is little to be enthusiastic about in ...