First, his opening shot (emphasis mine)…
What worries me is the complete lack of accountability by Fannie’s and Freddie’s executives, as well as Wall Street investment bankers also now being insured by taxpayers. We’ve created the worst form of socialized capitalism—private gains combined with public losses.
These executives and bankers are among the best paid in all [...]

“If you bail out every investment bank that gets in trouble, that’s not capitalism, that’s socialism for the rich.”
- Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings on CNBC today
Here’s some background:
Last week, it was a $200 billion cash-for-bond swap for the banks.
This week, it was a $200 billion bond-for-bond swap for the big investment houses.
If they [...]

An oldie but a goodie.

What’s sad is that following seems to be yet another example of China being China. They make no apologies for the crazy stuff that they do, and we keep buying their crap because they can make things for us cheaply.
So where’s it gonna stop?
From Press Esc:
The Chinese authorities are forcibly evicting 1.5 million people from [...]

I’ve yet to comment on the recent immigration debate, though I have previously shared my thoughts on the topic at Thought Theater. Having recently spent some time ruminating on the relevant issues, along with today’s reading of George Will’s latest commentary, I’m ready to take another swipe at the subject.
There seems to be a [...]

First, Sully points out that the recent Republican debates signal a return to true fiscal conservatism and the death throes of anything else…
From Daily Dish:
It’s also clear that compassionate conservatism is dead. Every single candidate favors reduced taxes and big spending cuts. None, however, is prepared to say that Medicare and Social Security must be [...]

He was on his bus answering a question about whether our government should spend money to provide condoms in Africa. And then the reporter asked him an excruciatingly simple question.
You will be amazed…
Q: Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?�
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.�
Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably [...]

It’s become fashionable to put down Barack Obama, just to compensate for the embarrassing fervor of his fans. But that too can go too far, and today I read something that reminded me what it is about him that genuinely appealed to me before he was a superstar. From an excellent Seattle Times [...]

When our children were little, their grandparents really liked talking “baby talk” to them. I’d watch as supposedly intelligent adults spent hours talking nonsense to unresponsive infants. Both baby and adult seemed to enjoy it.
I hated it.
Why? Because my wife and I were convinced that it stunted brain development. Because of that, and because we [...]

The title says it all.
Key sentence:
The payments now account for nearly half of the nation’s expanding agricultural subsidy system, a complex web that has little basis in fairness or efficiency.
From the Washington Post.

Could this happen here?
Government surveillance of all children, including information on whether they eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, will be condemned tomorrow as a Big Brother system. Changes being introduced since Victoria Climbié’s death from abuse include a £224 million database tracking all 12 million children in England [...]

Or is it that “the GOP and its media and energy constituencies will do everything they can to discredit attempts to deal with global warming or other issues that undermine their respective agendas. And they do it by playing the normal/weird card”?
Jack Whelan at After the Future has a keen analysis of how [...]

From the AP:
WASHINGTON - Supporters of a guest worker program that would let illegal immigrants stay in the United States said Tuesday they don’t have enough Senate votes to overcome objections from conservatives who oppose the measure on grounds it amounts to amnesty.
As negotiators worked on a compromise to let those who have been here [...]

Want 10K a month year for life after you turn 21? (I just corrected the month/year thing. BIG mistake. Thanks to Brainster for pointing it out.)
Well, that’s the plan Charles Murray’s new book, In Our Hands : A Plan To Replace The Welfare State, puts forth and it is certainly intriguing…especially once you start digging [...]

The following happens every single day to millions of Americans.
From the NY Times:
Workers in some of Baltimore’s homeless shelters and soup kitchens had noticed something new and troubling about many of the visitors coming in for meals and shelter: they happened to have full-time jobs.
So what do you do to make sure people have [...]

Listen, I agree that we should erect some sort of barrier to provide deterrence against people crossing the border. However, I disagree with the other measures he proposes because they are WAY too strict. We should be thinking about earned amensty for illegals who’ve joined our society, instead of prosecuting them, their families and anybody [...]

Knee jerk reaction coming up, but I think it’s significant to start talking about this right away.
As I go over Alito’s record, there’s one case in particular that really doesn’t sit well with me this morning. I’m sure most of you could guess what that is, but it’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
From SCOTUSblog:
A dissenting opinion [...]

This is sure to make Indiana part of the “Are You Serious?” newscycle this week.
Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana, including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do become pregnant “by means other than sexual intercourse.”
According to a draft of the [...]

No, I didn’t spell that wrong. It’s simply how technology people choose to spell it… (NOTE: this might seem confusing, but the original title was War on Pr0n, but then I changed it back to Porn, but didn’t omit the striked sentence. Doh!)
From the Wash Post.
The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and [...]

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the best selling books The Tipping Point and Blink, points out an interesting correlation between poor dental health and poor people:
People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you’re paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn’t, [...]