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What We Lost 10 Years Ago Today

The news is full of coverage of the anniversary of 9/11. You can change the channel without being reminded of what happened 10 years ago today. It was one of the most tragic days in American history and one none of us will ever forget.

And while we spend the day remembering this anniversary, let’s not lose sight of what else we lost on this day 10 years ago – America.

Since 9/11 this country has become increasingly more divided. We got a severely broken government that can’t operate due to partisan bickering. We saw the birth of this not long after the attacks 10 years ago. The Bush administration became hell bent on attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, Iraq. People who disagreed with that war were called terrorists or even accused of treason. This wasn’t limited to bars or living rooms. We even heard the vice-President of the country, Dick Cheney, as well as other officials from the administration and politicians use the same harsh language against those opposed to Iraq.

That’s right – 9/11 changed America and not for the better. We became a nation where disagreeing with the President was tantamount to wanting to overthrow the government. We had a government turn to the same thinking as the Middle Eastern governments we were going after. Freedom started a quick death on that day and America is worst off because of it.

Politics

Boehner Is Putting Politics Ahead Of Jobs

The White House today announced that President Obama will deliver his much anticipated jobs speech before a joint session of Congress next Thursday. That date also happens to be the next GOP debate and John Boehner doesn’t like that:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has asked President Obama to address a joint-session of Congress on Thursday, Sept. 8, when it wouldn't conflict with the Republican presidential debate.

Citing logistical difficulties, Boehner requested that Obama hold his jobs address, which Obama wants to deliver next Wednesday, one day later.

The Speaker's letter made no mention of the more obvious conflict: between the president's speech, and a Republican presidential debate scheduled on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST. That debate is the first of the post-Labor Day political season, and the first one in which Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is set to participate.

Why can’t both happen at the same time? John Boehner had no problem giving a speech the same time as the President a few months back, so what’s the problem now?

The debate is scheduled to appear on MSNBC only, so I don’t see why MSNBC can’t run the debate and everyone else carry the address. Also there are only two members of Congress who are to appear in the debate. Is John Boehner saying he wants to shut the House down for this debate, especially after the totally ineffective Congress he has been running just gets off a 5-week taxpayer funded vacation? Who does he think he is fooling?

News

DOJ Sues To Block AT&T / T-Mobile Merger

Apparently someone is thinking in Washington:

The U.S. government sued to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market.

The Justice Department complaint was filed today in federal court inWashington. The U.S. is seeking a declaration that Dallas-based AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law and a court order blocking any arrangement implementing the deal.

“AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low- priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” the U.S. said in its filing.

We already pay some of the highest cell rates in the world and removing competition will do nothing but insure that those rates stay high. Hopefully the DOJ succeeds in this suit and the merger never happens.

Politics

As Hurricane Katia Comes, The Right Accuses Obama Of “Over-Hyping” Irene

Irene hit New York as a category 1 hurricane, which is much less than the category 3 originally predicted. Since that happened the right has launched a major attack on the Obama administration, accusing them of “over-hyping” the hurricane for political purposes. This started with a bunch of links on Drudge over the weekend that quickly garnered the attention of the right blogosphere (see here and here for starters) and even Fox News. Of course this helped lead to the bigger issue on the right – getting rid of the National Weather Service:

As Hurricane Irene bears down on the East Coast, news stations bombard our televisions with constant updates from the National Hurricane Center.

While Americans ought to prepare for the coming storm, federal dollars need not subsidize their preparations. Although it might sound outrageous, the truth is that the National Hurricane Center and its parent agency, the National Weather Service, are relics from America’s past that have actually outlived their usefulness.

Science

Here Comes Hurricane Katia

Overnight a new tropical depression got its act together, pulled in tighter and became our next hurricane, Katia. The storm is still way out in the Atlantic, but it’s moving very fast and predicted to become a major hurricane by Sunday, as seen on the 5-day probability cone:

Hurrican Katia's projected path as of Tuesday, August 30

Compare this to the 5-day cone from Irene exactly a week ago:

Hurricane Irene's projected path as of Tuesday, August 23

Irene didn’t reach major status until after it got past Cuba, even though it was predicted to reach that status when passing the Dominion Republic. Hurricane scientology 101 – warmer waters increase hurricanes. That’s important to note considering Katia is expected to reach the major status while it’s still way out and has plenty of extra warm water to travel across before reaching any major land.

It’s still too early to tell how this storm will affect the United States, but so far the projections have it pretty close to the same path as Irene. Should it continue that path, the eastern coast will be in for another pounding and mass destruction. I’m not sure if the people or our economy can really handle that right now.

Economy

Ben Stein Crushes Bill O'Reilly Over Taxes

When you have one of the best known conservative writers on economics go after the standard GOP talking points that we need more tax cuts for the rich, you know that the right is in trouble.

On Bill O'Reilly, Ben Stein did just that:

Dave Edwards offers this awesome outtake from this confrontation:

O’Reilly went on to argue that raising taxes on the rich would make the recession worse.

“That isn’t true,” Stein said. “There is no correlation, Mr. O’Reilly, between taxes rates on millionaires and people above that level, billionaires, and the growth of the economy… Higher taxes have historically correlated with more growth.”

“Mr. O’Reilly, sir, there is no correlation of raising taxes and unemployment,” he added later. “If you can show it to me, I’ll eat your shoe.”

And Ben Stein is right in this argument. Let's go back to 1982. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, his historic tax cuts only on the books for a couple of years and a recession hitting the country. What did Reagan do? Let's ask David Stockman:

First One Of The Season–Time To Wind Test Anderson Cooper’s Hair!

Credit: NHC

This morning Irene has been upgraded to a category 1 hurricane.

Hard to believe summer is winding down and we haven’t had a major hurricane make landfall in the U.S. yet. That could all be changing now with Irene:

Irene, the ninth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, was expected to pass over Puerto Rico overnight and could strengthen into a hurricane as it approached the Dominican Republic on Monday, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

It would be the first hurricane of the busy -- but so far not destructive -- 2011 Atlantic hurricane season.

At 5 p.m. (2100 GMT), Irene had top winds of 50 miles per hour and was near the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix, about 120 miles east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Irene was a large storm and moving west-northwest.

This morning the NHC upgraded Irene to a category 1 hurricane and expected to strengthen more over the next 48 hours. The current projections have Irene grazing the eastern side of Cuba Wednesday and Thursday and hit the eastern coast of Florida on Friday.

Elections 2012

Paul Ryan For President?

This could prove to be some real entertainment:

As Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan comes to a final decision about running for president, several top national conservatives are encouraging him to join the race. Ryan, who has been seriously but quietly considering a presidential bid for several months, is expected to decide on a run in the next two weeks

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels hopes he runs. “If there were a Paul Ryan fan club, I'd be a national officer,” Daniels said in a phone interview Wednesday morning.

One issue with Ryan is his age:

Daniels also dismisses concerns about Ryan’s age. “It didn’t stop the last guy,” he says, laughing. “This president would have a hard time arguing that Paul wouldn’t be a serious candidate.” When asked if that might be an object lesson, Daniels says no. “It’s a natural question but I think people would be reassured both by hearing him talk and by the people he’d put around him.”

Ryan is 9 years younger that Obama, which would make him 5 years younger at the time of a Presidential run. But I don't really view age as a big deal. The only ones who really seemed concerned about that was the Republicans in 2008, when they were talking about Obama. It does make for an interesting argument though - is a white man mature enough to run for office, when a black man, 5 years older, wasn't?

But let's consider the real issues here, not the typical faux issues manufactured by politicians and pundits.

Elections 2012

Just Make It Up!!!!

Sure we can't trust politicians to do what they say, but now we also can't trust them to even say something remotely truthful. Take Rick Perry for example:

For a small-government conservative on the presidential campaign stump like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a new federal regulation forcing farmers to get commercial drivers licenses would make a perfect example of Barack Obama’s Washington run amok.
But there is no such regulation.

During his debut in Iowa Sunday night in Waterloo, then again at on Monday at the Iowa State Fair Monday, Gov. Perry brought up the phantom “obscene, crazy” regulation in Texan terms.

“If you’re a tractor driver, if you drive your tractor across a public road, you’re gonna have to have a commercial driver’s license. Now how idiotic is that?” he thundered to the fair crowd in Des Moines, with the rejoinder, “What were they thinkin’?”

Here we go on the anti-government regulation stampede. Of course this is coming from a guy who felt it was the government's job to force woman to get vaccines. Hypocrite much Rick?

What's really interesting to note is that this article comes from the Wall Street Journal. Since Perry announced on Saturday, the Journal has been on a roll discrediting Perry. It looks like the most right publication around doesn't even like slick-Rick.

McCain Loves Loop Holes

Just another example of how McCain says one thing and does another:

Given Senator John McCain’s signature stance on campaign finance reform, it was not surprising that he backed legislation last year requiring presidential candidates to pay the actual cost of flying on corporate jets. The law, which requires campaigns to pay charter rates when using such jets rather than cheaper first-class fares, was intended to reduce the influence of lobbyists and create a level financial playing field.

But over a seven-month period beginning last summer, Mr. McCain’s cash-short campaign gave itself an advantage by using a corporate jet owned by a company headed by his wife, Cindy McCain, according to public records. For five of those months, the plane was used almost exclusively for campaign-related purposes, those records show.

Mr. McCain’s campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates.

Straight talk takes another hairpin curve. Of course the MSM will brush this under the rug. I guess it's just another "senior moment".

I Guess Bill Isn't The "First Black President" Anymore

Especially when things like this are being said:

The third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives and one of the country’s most influential African-American leaders sharply criticized former President Bill Clinton this afternoon for what he called Mr. Clinton’s “bizarre” conduct during the Democratic primary campaign.

Representative James E. Clyburn, an undeclared superdelegate from South Carolina who is the Democratic whip in the House, said that “black people are incensed over all of this,” referring to statements that Mr. Clinton had made in the course of the heated race between his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Senator Barack Obama.

Good way to destroy a legacy Bill.

Spin It Lanny!

Lanny Davis posted a blog on The Hill today entitled:

Recent Polling Data Show Serious Concerns About Sen. Obama’s ‘Electability’ Over Sen. McCain vs. Sen. Clinton’s (Lanny Davis)

Very interesting. I saw that and thought there was a bunch of polls I missed. Quickly I went to Real Clear Politics and looked at the recent head to head polls:

Would Stopping The Paper Delivery Trucks Constitute A Violation Of The First Amendment?

That is an interesting argument raised by Michael Froomkin about the Wikileaks case:

This isn’t a classic prior restraint on speech since it reaches the registrar not the speaker — but it’s close enough to stopping the delivery trucks on a newspaper that I think this aspect of the decision is a cause for some First Amendment concern. The IP numbers for the site still work, though. Try 88.80.13.160.

Of course this ruling also makes us look more like China. Hopefully an upper court judge will overturn this poor decision.

Lou Dobbs Shouldn't Rely Upon The Washington Times As A Source

Heard about this "Pelosi wants a military jet" crap going on? Well Josh is all over it:

Below we noted that the Washington Times story about Nancy Pelosi's demand for a military aircraft for travel back to her district appears to be a crock. According to Thinkprogress and reporting in Roll Call, former Speaker Denny Hastert used a military plane for travel to history district. But the plane he used couldn't carry enough fuel to fly nonstop across the country.

A Pelosi aide told Roll Call: "The Air Force determined that [Pelosi’s] safety would be best ensured by using a plane that has the fuel capacity to go coast-to-coast. All we’re asking for is what Hastert had."

So this seems to be the issue: a military aircraft for the Speaker has been the rule since 9/11. But a larger plane is needed for Pelosi since she flies back and forth to California, not Illinois.

I can fully understand having the Speaker of the House being granted this kind of security after 9/11. I knew Hastert had it and never complained. The Speaker is 3rd in line for the Presidency and it would be a good idea to make sure they are safe. What gets me is how this is now an issue because ~~Pelosi wants it~~ they want Pelosi to have it.

Of course there have been other similar issues that have not received this amount of attention. Here is one from last year:

It would seem the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), Michael Leavitt, has been using a GulfStream 3 jet that belongs to the Centers for Disease Control for his own private agenda.

Our Republican Sherriff Asks For Democratic Help (give him a hat tip)

To give you a taste of Ohio politics, here is something going on in my own backyard. I posted last September about the lockout at AK Steel, a prominent area employer. In that post I showed a picture of the new Butler County Republican headquarters, which came with a $800,000 price tag and donations from AK Steel. This building is really nice, as compared Butler County Democratic headquarters store front. However, the Democrats have no problem at all operating out of this small space.

Now our Republican sheriff is getting involved in trying to bring this lockout to an end:

The Republican sheriff of Butler County, unable to get help from his own party to end an 11-month lockout at AK Steel’s Middletown Works, is turning to newly elected Democrats in Columbus and Washington.

Sheriff Rick Jones has written letters to Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, both Democrats who won GOP-held seats on Nov. 7, and asked them to intervene.

“It is of the utmost importance that you intervene in the negotiations to bring this 11-month-old lockout to a productive conclusion. Our community needs your help and support,” Jones wrote. “I know it’s very strange that a local Republican sheriff would ask two of the most powerful Democrats in the state of Ohio to do something, but I am.”

Jones said Friday that he was frustrated that former Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican who served the maximum two consecutive terms, and former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, defeated by Brown in November, were not able to end the lockout. He said the toll the strike has taken on the county’s residents is getting to him.