Ben Bernanke wants to assure people that the Fed isn't just throwing money at the current problems, unaware of the long-term impact on inflation. My colleagues and I believe that accomodative policies will likely be warranted for an extended period. At some point,...
By now you've probably seen the news of Sarah Palin resigning as governor of Alaska. My first reaction was Whaaa?????? Since I too am aware of all internet traditions, my second reaction was to...
President Bush made a secret, surprise visit to Iraq and the local reaction wasn't entirely friendly:In other news, serious analysts might want to take a look at the draft of a federal report by the...
Why, o why do I subject myself to this exciting town hall styled 'debate'? Is boring, and my prediction is that it stays boring, and in the grand scheme of things, doesn't do all that much. And yet,...
What is the "central front" in the war on terrorism?According to Obama, its Afghanistan. According to McCain, its Iraq. Bush--still president--has long asserted that its Iraq.A pair of articles in the NYT yesterday and today suggest otherwise--Pakistan should perhaps be at the center of the discussion.While Obama may in fact be closer to the mark with is focus on Afghanistan, the source of NATO's troubles in Afghanistan seems to be emerging from Pakistan. The resurgent Taliban uses Pakistan as a safe haven to rest, re-arm, and retreat as needed. Now, we learn, much of this seems to be...
A focus on foreign policy has returned to the campaign, and the Washington Post had an telling series of articles yesterday and today on what the next President might do in the Foreign Policy arena. A column in Sunday’s Outlook section speculated on what lies ahead:The next president will inherit a turbulent, intractable world that sharply constrains the room for creative new U.S. initiatives, according to many foreign policy experts of varying ideological persuasions. Despite the sharp campaign jousting, it's not hard to imagine the next president – even a Democrat – pursuing basically the...
Reading between the lines of a front page story in this mornings Washington Post:Hillary Supporters: Oh My Heavens! We just read the rules for the Texas primary and discovered that even if we win we might not win! Why didn't you tell us this earlier? How unfair is that?!?! Our big Texas strategy could fall apart because of these rules where our voters don't count as much as we need them too. Is there any way we could question the established rules to help our candidate win?Several top Clinton strategists and fundraisers became alarmed after learning of the state's unusual provisions during a...
I'm sure you're all well aware that:Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.You can read the other top Chuck Norris facts here and here.You've probably seen Chuck Norris with Mike Huckabee, his top celebrity campaign endorsement, appearing with him everywhere in Iowa and New Hampshire. Huckebee's actual plan to stop illegal immigration? "Two words: Chuck Norris."The question to our loyal readers and the blogosphere writ large is this: What are top...
Hillary Clinton is running as the “Experienced” candidate. Her political experience consists of 8 years in the US Senate and 8 years in the White House as First Lady. In her speeches and discussion, she leaves a great deal of that resume deliberately ambiguous, and in doing so, raises a very important question: How should one count the experience of being First Lady? The New York Times addresses that issue today:In seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton lays claim to two traits nearly every day: strength and experience. But as the junior senator from New York, she has...
Several days ago, I asked if someone making 97,000 / year was Middle Class, and Rodger followed up wonderful post on the two "two Americas," economic and cultural.Matt Bai, NY Times Magazine political writer and new contributor to their political blog The Caucus, raises the issue again. Responding to a John Edwards ad where Edwards promises to "save the middle class," Bai asks:All the Democratic candidates, to one extent or another, have been blurring the distinction between the poor and the “middle class” — arguing, in effect, that rising inequality means there is increasingly little...
Peter has a great post about the meaning of wealth in America -- and the diverse problem that voters making upwards of $97,000 annually pose to the Democratic candidates in the 2008 election campaign.After all, Democrats have long been said to represent the interests of the downtrodden. Think about FDR's "New Deal" or LBJ's "Great Society." Yet, Democratic members now hold many House seats in districts that are viewed as affluent by income measures. Though Peter framed this debate around the positions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, it arguably reflects the "two Americas" theme that...
Time for another installment of Ducking the Issues, where we here at the duck take a closer look at issues in the 2008 campaign.David points out an interesting article, reporting a study by the Heritage Foundation that asserts that the Democrats are now the “party of the rich.” When combined with a discussion between Obama and Clinton in a debate in Las Vegas the other week, you end up with an interesting and revealing set of income and class dynamics at play in the presidential election.As the Post reported:The two front-running Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)...