John McCain, Freedom, and Iran

June 18, 2009 at 11:11 pm

John McCain just seems bitter lately.

First, he lost the election and now he’s starting down the Dick Cheney, grumpy ex-Vice President road of griping and swiping.

This week McCain came out and said Obama wasn’t taking enough of a stand against the current Iranian government.

Why Anti-Smoking Legislation Will Succeed While Health Care Reform is in Danger

June 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm

This past week the Senate passed an anti-smoking bill that will give regulators new powers in the fight against smoking. On the surface, passage of this bill seems like a liberal victory. Until you look closer. Philip Morris (now Altria) has come out in favor of the bill. Now why […]

CPAC and Idiocracy

March 1, 2009 at 10:40 pm

CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) has been going on this week and interestingly enough, I happened to rent the movie Idiocracy on Friday. The narrator has one of my favorite quotes as Joe, the hero of the movie, explores 500 years into the future for the first time: Unaware […]

The Latest GOP Phantom War

February 25, 2009 at 10:38 pm

I received this alarmist e-mail from NewsMax today: Radio Insiders, Congressmen Aim to Stop Fairness Doctrine Moves are afoot to head off any Democratic efforts to reinstate the so-called Fairness Doctrine and stifle conservative talk radio. A group of radio  insiders has formed the Free Radio Coalition to fight the […]

Privatize the Profits, Socialize the Risk

February 23, 2009 at 5:52 pm

When times are good, Wall Street wants the government to get out of the way so that the market can “work.” Translation: Privatize the profit. When times are bad, Wall Street wants the government to step in and play a role in the economy. Translation: Socialize the risk. If you […]

Best and the Worst of the Financial Bailout

February 22, 2009 at 6:08 pm

With so much garbage commentary being thrown around about the bailouts, it’s interesting to see a writer in a very popular forum talking about some of the real good and bad of the bailout. First, the good: Regulation is necessary to reduce systemic risk – What happens without regulation? Too much […]

No Oversight, Chaos, and Breathtaking Sums of Money

February 15, 2009 at 10:48 am

“You had no oversight, chaos and breathtaking sums of money. And over all of that was the notion that failure was O.K. It doesn’t get any better for criminals than that set of circumstances.” – Senator Claire McCaskill describing the operation to rebuild Iraq. I was glad to see the […]

They Can’t Deport Us All

February 12, 2009 at 11:44 am

T-shirt seen at the U.S. vs. Mexico soccer game in Columbus. Mexico actually lost the soccer game, but I’m scoring the public relations battle 1-0 in their favor.

Negotiating with Conservatives

February 1, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Tom Delay writes in his book “No Retreat, No Surrender” that he would “start every policy initiative from as far to the political right as we could.” The conservative bargaining strategy looks something like this: Conservative: How much is that rug? Seller: $100 Conservative: I’ll give you $10. Seller: How […]

Limbaugh’s Bipartisan Stimulus

January 29, 2009 at 9:50 pm

I have to give Rush Limbaugh credit. He is an excellent communicator. In his article in today’s Wall Street Journal, Limbaugh does quite the job of making a case for a bipartisan stimulus package. When it comes to communicating with the public, Democrats could learn some things from Mr. Limbaugh. […]