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Romans 13 and Political Discouse

post from Jesus' General on 03 November 2009 07:52:00 PM. © Jesus' General

Dan makes an important observation about Romans 13: it's only in effect when we have Republican presidents.

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Romans 13 and Political Discourse

post from Jesus' General on 03 November 2009 07:52:00 PM. © Jesus' General

Dan makes an important observation about Romans 13: it's only in effect when we have Republican presidents.

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Read The Full Article:
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2009/11/romans-13-and-political-discouse.html

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How Obama Can Convince Congress to Enact a Larger
Stimulus, and Why He Must

post from TPMCafe on 03 November 2009 07:49:00 PM. © TPMCafe

The Administration's biggest economic mistake so far was to badly underestimate last January how bad the employment situation would become by Fall. As a result, it low-balled the stimulus -- settling for a plan that, while avoiding even worse job losses, didn't go nearly far enough.

Obama has to return to Congress, seeking a larger stimulus.

Yes, I know. We're already in the gravitational pull of the midterm elections (look at the bizarre attention given to gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, and even to a congressional election in the 23rd district of New York, as supposed harbingers of voter behavior a year from now!) so it will be even harder to round up the needed votes from Blue Dog Dems fretting over the deficit. And you can forget the Republicans.

And yes, I know: Only about half the current stimulus has been spent, so it will be awkward to make the case that we need a larger one.

But here's the problem. Everything else on the table -- a new jobs tax credit, more loans to small businesses, more help to troubled homeowners, another extension of unemployment insurance, another round of subsidies to first-time home buyers -- are small potatoes relative to the importance and likely effect of a larger stimulus. Some of these initiatives may do some good, but even combined they'll barely make a dent in the growing numbers of jobless Americans.

Meanwhile, the states are slicing their budgets, laying off workers, and ratcheting up taxes. That's because state tax revenues are falling off a cliff, and almost every state is barred by its constitution from running a deficit. That means the states are actively implementing an anti-stimulus plan.

Let's be clear about this. The national rate of unemployment will almost surely hit 10 percent; we'll know Friday whether it already has. This is more a psychological and political threshold than an economic one (it doesn't include everyone who's too discouraged to look for work, or working part time who'd rather be working full time, or working fewer hours in an ostensible full-time job, or otherwise fully employed but being paid less; the Bureau of Labor Statistics' payroll survey, also due Friday, provides a more accurate picture). But it nonetheless represents a degree of hardship this country hasn't seen in decades.

Public approval of Obama’s handling of the economy has slipped to 46 percent in an Oct. 30-Nov. 1 CNN poll, from 59 percent in March. Remember, Obama was elected in part because the public didn't have confidence in McCain's ability to manage the economy. In exit polls last November, almost two-thirds of voters listed the economy as the nation's top issue. If the job numbers don't start moving in the right direction, not only will Obama's poll ratings continue to drop but congressional Dems will all be in trouble.

That should be his selling point to the Blue Dogs. He should tell them the economy needs a bigger stimulus in order to show improved job numbers by the mid-term elections. And he should make sure they understand that they're more politically endangered next November if the the job numbers aren't moving in the right direction by then than if they vote for a larger stimulus now.

Although the economy began growing for the first time in a year during the third quarter, expanding at a 3.5 percent annual rate, the Obama administration and most private economists say they expect the unemployment rate will rise above the 9.8 percent hit in September.

“Unless we see a dramatic drop in the unemployment situation, this is going to be the signal issue” for the election, said David Schultz, a professor of political science and economics at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He said the administration doesn’t view today’s elections “as something that portends a lot for our legislative efforts going forward or political prospects in 2010.”

Obama has said that his top priority remains job creation and he convened a meeting at the White House yesterday with his top economic advisors to discuss possible new policies.

“We just are not where we need to be yet,” Obama told his Economic Recovery Advisory Board. “The question is how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs.”

United States Congress - New York - United States - Politics - Society and Culture

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Diane Sawyer Uses Glenn Beck To Attack Al Gore
For Not Eating ‘Tofurkey’

post from Think Progress on 03 November 2009 07:40:00 PM. © Think Progress

ABC’s Good Morning America host Diane Sawyer sandbagged Vice President Al Gore this morning with an attack by Glenn Beck. Gore was appearing on the show to discuss his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. Smiling, Sawyer introduced a mocking clip from the Fox News pundit. “Here’s Glenn Beck,” she said, “giving you a challenge about cows and methane”:

BECK: I’m siding with PETA on this one. Once again asking Al Gore if you really want to save the planet, Al, why don’t you put down the cheeseburger and pick up the veggie burger? Time for, maybe, soy milk and tofurkey?

Watch it:

Sawyer somehow failed to note that Beck denies the science of climate change and has claimed efforts to build a green economy are “fascism.”

Of course, Our Choice addresses the question. Chapter Ten of Our Choice, “Soil,” discusses the complex range of challenges and opportunities related to food production and consumption, noting in particular the costs of industrial agriculture. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations, including practical ones for American consumers, like supporting farmers’ markets and eating less meat. And Gore follows his own advice:

There is a serious issue about the connection between the growing meat intensity of diets around the world and damage to the environment. And like a lot of people, I eat less meat now than I used to. I’m not a vegetarian, don’t plan to become one, but it’s a healthy choice to eat more vegetables and fruits. So it’s not a laughable issue.

Sawyer laughably replied, “So, tofurkey for you.”

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Actually that's Hoffman, not Owens

post from Daily Kos on 03 November 2009 07:34:33 PM. © Daily Kos

As we wait for results, here's another Chyron slip from Fox, albeit this time without any obvious political motivation (unless, of course, they have received some secret teabagging signal from Glenn Beck that Hoffman lost).

Actually, that's Doug Hoffman, Teabagger for Congress

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Hmmm. Virginia

post from Talking Points Memo on 03 November 2009 07:32:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

As you can see, we've still got less than 10% of the results in in Virginia. And none of the networks are venturing a call yet. That in itself is a minor surprise since Deeds was so far behind in the polls. See the results come in on our scoreboard to[...]

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#FoxNewsFrontPageFail

post from Talking Points Memo on 03 November 2009 07:29:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Fox News not really bringing out the distinction between the VA and NJ Govs races. [...]

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Look Out Republicans The REAL Conservatives Are
Coming After Your Voter Base

post from The Gun Toting Liberal on 03 November 2009 07:25:07 PM. © The Gun Toting Liberal

Now That Conservatives Are Jumping Ship From The Party That Abandoned Them, The Time Has Come For A REAL “Liberal” Party To Challenge The Democratic Party, Wouldn’t You Agree?The Politico is reporting the trouble in G.O.P.-Ville, where Republican popularity ratings have fallen...

This is only a comment summary. Visit http://guntotingliberal.com to view the lastest content complete with some of the most outrageous original photoshops in the political blogosphere!

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Election Night

I have no thoughts on today's elections. None.

Hope you folks can do better than me.

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VA-Gov and VA-Legislature: Polls Have Closed,
Will It Be A Short Night

Election Results--Virginia Governor--11/3/09--8% Reporting

Bob McDonnell (R) 81,358 (64%)
Creigh Deeds (D) 46,670 (36%)

(Note: Still very early--bulk of vote coming from rural areas. Three districts reporting the most are the 5th, 6th and 9th)

Election Results--Virginia Governor--11/3/09--0.8% Reporting

Bob McDonnell (R) 6124 (67%)
Creigh Deeds (D) 3064 (33%)

So, Election Night 2009 begins in the commonwealth of Virginia, where the state's off-year election cycle selects a new Governor, plus two other constitutional officers (Lt. Governor and Attorney General) as well. Late polls in the race suggested a Republican sweep of these three offices.

In addition, the State House of Delegates will be up for grabs, with the GOP expected to pad their 55-45 majority (technically, it is 53-45-2, but the two Independents are GOP-friendly).

The early numbers are just that, really, really early. The exit polls are not declaring a winner yet (a potentially good sign--since all indications were that Deeds was going to get thumped).

That said, they are making some telling points about this election, and it looks like Markos was right when he made this point earlier today:

2010 will be a base election. The party best able to turn out its core voters has the best chance of winning. If Democrats want to see a repeat of Virginia at the national level next year, then they should cave to Blue Dogs and the media nabobs and water down reform efforts (whether in energy, health care, financial services, or immigration).

What have the exit polls told us thus far? One fifth of voters were under the age of 30 last year. This year? Just 10% of the electorate. Nearly a third of the Virginia electorate were minority voters last year. This year? 20%.

Daily Kos will follow the numbers all evening, while Democrats continue holding out hope that this will not be a quick call.