Ed Quillen looks at Tom Tancredo's proposal to sell federal land to pay for the Katrina disaster [Denver Post, November 8, 2005, "Selling the right fed land"]. He writes, "He's (Tancredo) been such a whirlwind of activity that it was easy to miss one of his more interesting proposals. A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated southern Louisiana and Mississippi, when Congress was considering billions in disaster relief and reconstruction aid, he introduced a bill to finance this aid by selling off some public land. More specifically, his proposed bill would direct the Interior Department to designate 15 percent of the land it administers for sale; national parks and Indian reservations would be excluded from consideration, so this basically puts BLM land on the block. The Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture would get a similar direction...But if he's after money for the federal Treasury from land sales, Tancredo is looking at the wrong property, agricultural stuff that fetches on average only $1,150 an acre. If land could have been farmed or ranched profitably, it would have been taken up by homesteaders long ago. Indeed, so much land was homesteaded that couldn't be farmed profitably that the federal government ended up buying it back after the Dust Bowl tragedy of the 1930s.
Stygius: "The New York Times has a nice look at the complex social faultlines in the recent school board election in Dover, Pa. This is where all eight incumbents -- all intelligent design partisans -- were kicked out by voters."
Political Wire: "Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will visit South Carolina for the first time 'as a potential presidential candidate since his devastating loss in the 2000 GOP primary to then-Gov. George Bush,' reports the Charleston Post and Courier. On November 20, 'McCain is scheduled to attend two events in Columbia, a book-signing and a military ceremony, before traveling to Charleston for an evening fundraiser for Attorney General Henry McMaster.'"
Charging RINO: "It's time. No more caving in. No more giving up. Look at what we can do if we centrists stand up and be counted when it really counts. If this be treason, as Patrick Henry said, then let us make the most of it. The American people are hungry for sensible leadership, and if those in the middle will finally offer it, the public will rally to the cause." Thanks to The Moderate Voice for the link.
Western Democrat: "Consider a ticket of Richardson-Napolitano: two popular governors of red states, New Mexico and Arizona, respectively, not easily vulnerable to the GOP playbook. This ticket would be hard to paint as Eastern elite latte liberals. The ticket would be experienced, competent, and moderate. If there is a train wreck in the Senate, they wouldn't be caught up in it. Appeal to minorities, check. Appeal to women, check. Appeal to Catholics, check (but religiously balanced; Napolitano is a Methodist). The ticket would not be geographically balanced, but neither was Clinton-Gore or Bush-Cheney, the last two winning tickets. Part of the strength of the ticket would be its ability to nail down the Southwest."
The Nation: "In an interview after the UNC speech, Edwards finally utters the words he'd assiduously avoided during the last campaign: 'I voted for the resolution,' he says. 'It was a mistake.' So far, so good. But he goes on, 'The hard question is, What do you do now? Looking back, it's easy to say that it was wrong and based on false information. Anybody who doesn't admit that isn't honest, and that's the truth.' So what now? 'I myself feel conflicted about it,' Edwards replies. 'But we have to find ways--and I don't mean just yanking all the troops tomorrow--but we have to find ways to start bringing our troops home. Our presence there is clearly contributing to the problem.' So does he agree with Senator Russ Feingold that Washington should set a withdrawal deadline? 'No. Even if we're going to say that internally, that we're gonna have our troops out by X date, there's no reason to announce that to the world. I think that's probably a mistake.' He doesn't agree, either, with Senator Clinton's call for more US troops to finish the job? 'No sir!' Edwards says, sitting straight up in his chair. 'Did she really say that?'"
Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
Business Week: " Fearing a terrorist attack, the FBI descended on casinos, car rental agencies, storage warehouses, and other Las Vegas businesses with sheaves of 'national security letters' demanding financial records covering about 1 million revelers. Startled business owners who questioned the action were told they had one choice: cough up their documents or wind up in court." Thanks to TalkLeft for the link.
Political Wire: "The Fix has a copy of a fundraising letter from Sen. Joe Biden that indicates he's running for president. Of course, Biden told us this early last summer, but it's our first evidence he's raising money."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
7:17:27 AM 
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