Politics

TAXING TIMES FOR SINGLE PEOPLE….My sister is always complaining about this, so here’s one more problem with the Bush tax plan: it does nothing for single people. My sister is unmarried and has no children, so neither the marriage penalty reform nor the child tax credit do her any good. Her income is moderate, so… Read more »

PLAN? WHAT PLAN?….Patrick Ruffini reports that a poll by Public Opinion Strategies shows that the Bush economic plan is preferred to the Democratic plan by 51%-41%. I’ve got one question: do they really expect us to believe that 92% of the electorate has an opinion on this? That 92% of the electorate has even heard… Read more »

CLASS WARFARE….There’s been a fair amount of comment about David Brooks’ op-ed in the New York Times yesterday in which he says Democrats should give up complaining about tax cuts for the rich. The most popular quote, of course, was this one: Nineteen percent of Americans say they are in the richest 1 percent and… Read more »

SAUDI ARABIA: FRIEND OR FOE?….Saudi Arabia gets a lot of grief in the blogosphere, and the cause isn’t hard to pinpoint: 15 Saudi nationals were part of 9/11, al-Qaeda continues to flourish in the Kingdom, and state-supported Wahhabi schools in Saudi Arabia preach a virulent blend of nationalism, fundamentalist Islam, and hatred toward Jews and… Read more »

POSITIVELY CHURCHILLIAN….Nope, no negotiation with Korea. Well, talks maybe, but no negotiation. But definitely no aid, no no no. Oh heck, maybe a little bit of aid: “We know there are energy problems in North Korea. Once we get beyond the nuclear problems, there may be an opportunity with the United States, with private investors,… Read more »

THE PAST IS PRESIDENT….Have you heard of “dynamic scoring”? It’s a politician’s dream, a theoretical construct that allows you to cut taxes, but then claim that the economic boost from the tax cut is so large that the tax cut won’t actually cost anything! Dynamic scoring was a hobbyhorse of the Reagan administration, part of… Read more »

AN INTERESTING DEFINITION OF “SUFFER”….Adam Garfinkle, arguing that we should withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea, makes this puzzling statement in NRO today: The division of Korea puts U.S. interests at risk more than it does those of any other major regional power (we have troops there; we ? not China or Russia or Japan… Read more »

NEXT FROM FOX: THE LOSERS ALL HAVE TO MARRY SOMEONE FROM JERRY SPRINGER….Nathan Newman ? against the odds ? thinks he has actually found something socially redeeming about Joe Millionaire. Seriously. Click here to read his theory.

BRINGING LIGHT TO THE MASSES….Ted Barlow has renamed his site and ? apparently dissatisfied at getting nothing more than a three-way tie for “most reasonable blogger” in the year-end awards ? has decided to convert into a single-issue blog dedicated to deconstructing the political ramifications of rural electrification. He’s off to a pretty good start.

MALPRACTICE?….ME?….Charles Kuffner reports that the rise in medical malpractice suits is at least partly due to….actual malpractice. Who’d have guessed?