|
|
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 |
Timing the State of the Union. Patrick Belton, over at OxBlog, has this analysis of Bush’s State of the Union address:
If the amount of time given over to a single idea
reflects its relative importance in the State of the Union speech (a
reasonable assumption), then the most important themes in tonight’s
speech, in descending order, are: the need to commit adequate resources
to the military for the war on terror (87 seconds); that government
will act against single-sex marriage (84 seconds); the administration’s
commitment to strengthening families and religious communities, and to
combat juvenile use of drugs (78 seconds); the government’s commitment
to education and excellence for each child in America (72 seconds);
that the world without Saddam is a better and safer place (69 seconds).
The closing matter took 78 seconds, centered around the idea that we
are living in historic times.
So, at least on this view, what we should take away from Bush’s
speech is roughly: we live in historic times in which our major
priorities are fighting terrorists, gays and atheists. And who says
there’s no culture war in America? [Crooked Timber]
10:29:08 PM Permalink
|
|
Adding up Dubya's first term..
Just in time for the State of the Union address, the UK Independent
does Dubya's numbers. $10.9 million: Average wealth of the members of
Bush's original 16-person cabinet 88%: Percentage of American citizens
who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of
2003 cut in capital gains and dividends taxes $42,000: Average savings
members of Bush's cabinet are expected to enjoy this year as a result
in the cuts in capital gains and dividends taxes $42,228: Median
household income in the US in 2001 $116,000: Amount Vice-President
Cheney is expected to save each year... [Pacific Views]
6:50:19 PM Permalink
|
|
The state of Dubya's union..
It's bad and getting worse, says Molly Ivins. And to help us keep
focused during the prez's State of the Union address tonight, Ivins
reminds us to follow the money. My fellow Americans, the state of the
union's finances is enough to make an Enron accountant gag. When George
W. Bush took office, he was handed a going concern. Projected annual
surpluses from 2002 to 2011 were $5.6 trillion. In its most recent
projection, the Congressional Budget Office says it expects $1.4
trillion in total deficits from 2004 to 2013. Bush's new future
spending proposals -- including everything from the... [BloggerStorm: Blog for America]
10:35:27 AM Permalink
|
|
Kerry
Kerry's win in Iowa is the most encouraging news I've had about
national politics for a long time. I've always kind of liked the guy,
but never figured he had much of a chance. Now it looks like as I think
Josh Marshall pointed out yesterday, that he was everyone's second
choice, and when the bloom faded from the Dean rose, perhaps people
turned to him. To me he feels now like the man most likely to beat
Bush, though I wonder if he has the wealth of enthusiastic supporters
of Dean. This morning on Bart, I read Douglas Brinkley's article in The
Atlantic, and excerpt from his book about Kerry in Vietnam. It has
liberal selections from some of Kerry's letters; in these
letters, he strikes me as a mature, smart person even at this young
age. And serious. It seems to me that a Kerry with enthusiastic support
is Bush's worst nightmare.
10:32:18 AM Permalink
|
|
© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
|
|
|
|
|