If the Face Fits III. Paul Krugman gets it (of course): Maestro of Chutzpah You see, although the rest of the government is running huge deficits [~] and never did run much of a surplus [~] the Social Security system is currently taking in much... [Whiskey Bar]

More on Social Security  comment []1:36:29 PM    

No Comment. The Onion: Jesus Demands Creative Control Over Next Movie. After watching Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ Monday, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ announced that He will demand creative control over the next film based on His life. "I never should have given Mel Gibson so much license," said Christ, the Son of God. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

Cute!!  comment []1:34:49 PM    

"Instapundit is pulling glitch reports together." [Daypop Top 40]

And the scarey thing is that the big electronic voting machine companies support the Republicans. Without an audit trail, how can you ever trust any election? If you can not trust an election, democracy wil fail. So, why in the world would any sane person develop a computer system without including a paper trail? Voting fraud has always been around but this could institutionalize it with no recourse at all.   comment []1:27:02 PM    

Our vigilant representatives.. Pardon the expression, but what the hell is wrong with Russell Feingold, Edward Kennedy, Charles Schumer, and Richard J. Durbin?... [Electrolite]

This is why so many people are upset with the Democratic leadership. How can they allow the question to be rammed to imply that all Christians oppose gay marriage? This is simply not true but what will appear in the Congressional Record will sure seem to make this point. How can these guts just sit around and do little? The Democratic wing of the Democratic party that Dean mentions IS the people and they will take it back. The peopel who know in Washington are resigned to the "fact" that hey can do nothing to oust the Republicans from congress until after the next census, about 2012. What a bunch of losers! If they don't, then we will find someone else to get out ahead of the parade and lead.  comment []1:16:05 PM    

Daily Outrage: Compassionate George. The Republicans cut off aid for 760,000 jobless, and counting. [The Nation Weblogs]

The Republicans all know that only lazy people get unemployment benefits. One Republican Congressman said that unemployment benefits encouraged people to not work. So by removing the benefits, you make them have to find work. That sort of compassion from conservatives is so heart-warming. From personal experience I know that many on unemployment desperately want work. They are working harder trying to find some job for which they are qualified than when they were working. Having a pool of desperate people willing to take anything is something that a cynical person would say this Adminstration wants. It helps keep salaries down and allows their corporate firends to make greater profit.  comment []1:09:15 PM    

Daily Outrage: Getting FICA'ed. All that Social Security tax you've paid? We're going to give it to the rich now. [The Nation Weblogs]

Many years ago, Greenspan got the payroll tax increased so that people could "prepay" their SS. The government has been raiding this prepayment and now he says sorry, we want it all, or at least most of it. The Democrats at least tax us directly, usually in a progressive fashion. The Republicans tax us indirectly, usually in a grossly regressive fashion. We are seeing a huge transfer of money from the middle class to the upper class, and the Republicans feel that is just fine./EM>  comment []12:59:44 PM    

Daily Outrage: Hole in the Head. Forgive those who brought us within 3/16" of a nuclear meltdown? [The Nation Weblogs]

Just a little somethinh to scare the beejebus out of you. Nuclear power is actually pretty safe, except when run by coporate interests who apparently just to not care.  comment []12:55:59 PM    

Daily Outrage: One Man's Tragedy. Is, apparently, just another man's self-serving photo opportunity. [The Nation Weblogs]

Using the images of first responders to sell your campaign while you simultaneously and cynically hold back funds for them (his budget for next year cuts $700 million in federal funds for first responders. I guess he expects the states to pick all this up.)... only in an America created by Bush. I expect pictures of Saddam being captured to be used before this is out because violating the Geneva Convention holds no water if it will get him elected.  comment []12:54:06 PM    

The Online Beat: Exploiting 9-11, Badly. Bush campaign made a serious misstep with 9-11 ads. [The Nation Weblogs]

For some wonderful reason these ads were broadcast here is Washington state. While the images are not too surprising to see from such a crassly political adminstration that has not shown itself above doing anything that aggregates power for itself, what struck me was the whining aspect of the ads. The economy is not our fault. The job market is not our fault. All these terrible things befell us but we were not responsible for any of it. Please elect us again.(Of course, if you do believe this, that the recession started during Clinton's term, why have things not gotten better in 3 years? Why are jobs not being created at a rate that would stabilize the job market, much less increase it? As I recall, Ford thought it was better to Whip Inflation Now than to increase the number of jobs. He found out that people would rather be working in an inflationary period than be out of work.)

Nothing about what they had achieved. Nothing about what they hoped to achieve. Nothing about their vision for America (other than homey, generic visions of faith and family). Nope. Things have been bad but it is not our fault. What a crock of BS! What will another 8 months of these ads develop into? They plan on spending $100 million just up to the convention.   comment []12:49:57 PM