This week the ACLU released a disturbing report documenting the permanent enshrinement of the Bush/Cheney definition of the Unitary Executive by the Obama administration. With the tacit acceptance of the Democratic Congress, the balance of power between executive and other branches continues to shift heavily to the executive. While distressing, the report is unsurprising as it was clear in the first few weeks of the new administration that Obama’s campaign rhetoric of rolling back the Bush/Cheney power grab was just that – empty campaign rhetoric.

As this issue becomes less politicized, more folks seem to warm to the legislation. Wait…what??? To me this is encouraging. Of course, we all know there are problems with the legislation that passed, but I think we can also collectively agree that the current system is completely unsustainable. So some type of fix had to [...]

With the discouraging employment numbers coming out earlier this week (even though the unemployment rate dropped) and the seeming unpopularity of many of the administration’s positions, this isn’t necessarily surprising news. Here’s the graph… 18 points in one year is a hell of a drop since it represents more than double the drop among Republicans. [...]

In early 2011, just half a year away, we’ll be seeing the GOP presidential hopefuls start to jockey for the top spot in earnest. And they’ll be bolstered by Republican gains in the midterms, as well as the perception that the Tea Party movement can turn out the vote come 2012. What else will bolster [...]

The titular joke comes in the first couple minutes…so you don’t have to watch the whole thing, but I’d suggest you do because it’s pretty damn funny. He also makes fun of Biden’s BFD comment, Eric Massa, the Jonas Brothers, Scott Brown, Michael Steele, Charlie Crist, John McCain, the new Arizona immigration law, his Nobel [...]

The gap has shrunk a bit, but the economy is turning around so in a year’s time it’s unlikely we’ll have the problems we’re having today. Basically, the question will then be… “Who is responsible for the economic growth in this country?” Gallup has more on that… Obama has stated that he “inherited the most [...]

You’ll remember Victoria from Saturday Night Live fame and the fact that she thinks Obama is the anti-christ. Cue hilarity… Yes, Glenn Beck has taught Victoria Jackson well. And that’s all that really needs to be said…

The Affordable Health Care for America Act is a bad piece of legislation that will have negative consequences for our economy and country and should never have become law. On that one point many liberals, conservatives and libertarians agree. Perhaps President Obama has simply fulfilled the campaign promise of a post-partisan political environment in Washington D.C. Due to his efforts, many Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Liberals and Conservatives are now united – in opposition to the BFD that is the Obama Health Care Reform hairball.

Just watch… Robert Gibbs…umm…did you not hear your boss talking? He’ll never live this one down.

As the debate about health care has stretched on, I’ve argued that it wasn’t smart for Republicans to be so strident about the Dems’ proposals. Better to have a seat at the table and argue for more cost cutting measures, different ways to fund it than tax hikes, etc. Instead, they said “NO!” at nearly [...]

SEIU prez Andrew Stern is threatening to “go independent” on local races to oppose Dems who oppose Prez Obama’s healthcare reform bill. One enabling factor in New York is fusion voting, which has empowered third parties like the New York Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party. Meanwhile, former Dem La Plata County Colorado [...]

Given that this is the slowest recovery from the deepest recession in the modern era, any argument on what impact the stimulus package or the Obama administration did or did not have on the duration or depth of the recession or recovery can only be made on a counterfactual basis. Despite the massive expenditures, you can’t say this recovery is more robust than any that has gone before, so all that can be said in defense of administration policy is speculation that the recovery would have been even more tepid without the stimulus. Problem being, a case can also be made that the uncertainty created by this administration’s wild spending, insane deficits, threatened increases in health care taxes, likely increases in health care insurance premiums on employers, an energy tax (cap & trade), repeal of the Bush tax cuts, increases in the minimum wage, uncertainty created in the health care, financial, and energy industries with the imposition of radical government mandated top down changes in industrial policy – all contributed to increasing uncertainty in the private sector and made the recession worse.

There’s been a lot of chatter about how Obama isn’t focusing on the economy, how his plans have failed, etc. Want to know the real story? Well, read on my friends, read on… Yes, unemployment hasn’t dropped as quickly as we had hoped, but if the economic growth that has happened in the past quarter [...]

As I’ve said before, watch the following and explain to me how this amounts to a government takeover of healthcare. Explain to me why we shouldn’t be doing ALL of these ideas. Because it doesn’t seem like there’s anything in there that 80% of Americans can’t agree with. Sure, you’re going to have your 10% [...]

If you can watch the following 20 minutes, it’s hard to argue that the President’s proposals are anywhere close to radical. In fact, some of the more “radical” parts started out as Republican ideas. Don’t believe me? Take a look… Personally, I think the notion that we start over on this legislation is just a [...]

I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning… The Tea Party’s choice in the Florida Republican primary, Marco Rubio, began his address to a crowd of conservative conventioneers by taking a shot at President Obama for reading from a teleprompter. He did it while standing in front of two easily visible teleprompters. It was [...]

Yes, he said that partisanship was out of control on both sides… “There’s just too much brain-dead partisanship, tactical maneuvering for short-term political advantage rather than focusing on the greater good, and also just strident ideology. The extremes of both parties have to be willing to accept compromises from time to time to make some [...]

Almost exactly 5 years ago, Wired.com ran an article chronicling the various reasons why nuclear energy was a decent idea. At the time, I was skeptical upon reading the headline, but once I dug into the article I was swayed and considered this alternative more seriously. It was definitely a controversial piece, but it was [...]