This is the week that lobbyists hope to shoe-horn tax-payers’ money to their favorite projects and paymasters. The biggest outrage is the wonderfully named Travel America Now Act. The Act would give us all a $500 tax credit to get on an airplane. This pathetic piece of economic micro-management is proposed by – yes! – a Republican. TANA is a wonderful piece of rhetorical ammunition for all those neoliberals who argue that Republicans only say they believe in market economics but are actually the tools of corporate interests. In the case of the current Republican party, the neolibs are increasingly right. Then there’s protection for catfish production, aid for sky-diver companies and all sorts of nonsense. It seems to me that president Bush has an opportunity here. Veto! Sure, some of these companies may have been disproportionately hurt by the aftermath of September 11. But it’s not the role of government to make sure anyone who gets a bad business break immediately gets a handout courtesy of everybody else. Some Americans are risking their lives in this war and many have already lost them – and these businessmen can’t get through a recession? Please. There’s a sweetheart deal for Boeing as well, just in case you thought the biggest corporate interests were spared. As always, John McCain is a lone, noble voice decrying this ugly spectacle. But if Bush came out against this opportunistic pork, wouldn’t it help him politically and also save us from some terrible legislation? C’mon, Dubya. Go for it.
KILL THE STIMULUS: Talking about terrible legislation, I’m praying for the ‘stimulus package’ to go down the tubes as well. The Dems have squeaked in a new healthcare entitlement, the Republicans are born-again Keynesians, and the entire package of accelerated tax cuts and handouts will almost certainly have an effect just when we don’t need it. I agree with Michael Barone that Bush can afford to see the stimulus die a welcome death. I don’t believe it will have any impact on turning around our little recession; I don’t think the Democrats are going to be able to run on the “Bush recession” next year with any real traction; and I do think voters will narrowly blame the Democrats for failing to pass one. Bush has already got a decent education bill under his belt. He has a successful war on terrorism. He will have a recovery by next summer. He can afford to let this piece of Keynesian nonsense go down the tubes. Here’s hoping it never reaches his desk.
STRESS RELIEVER: Is there a particular columnist that drives you up the wall? Dialecticize him! This dinky little site will automatically “translate” your favorite pundit into one of many accents. Here’s Madeleine Bunting, for example, as a redneck: “So we’ve been lef’ wif a straightfo’ward mo’al narrative: fine triumphs on over evil, ah reckon. It’s been this hyar kind of easy mo’alisin’ thet kicked me into th’ idiots’ camp fum th’ start. Th’ US may haf wanted t’exack revenge, but it was nevah sumpin ennyone c’d claim t’be mo’ally right.” Feel better? My favorite previous column by Madeleine gets translated as “No politics, We Is British.” Here’s Anthony Lewis’ farewell column as rendered by Elmer Fudd: “Wewigion and extweme nationawism have fowmed deadwy combinations in these decades, impewvious to weason, uh-hah-hah-hah. Sewbs in the gwip of wewigion and mysticaw nationawist histowy kiwwed thousands and expewwed miwwions in theiw “ethnic cweansing” of Bosnia. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit!” Oh joy! The possibilities are endless. Have fun. And if you can come up with a particularly hilarious sentence (one or two only, please!) from one of the usual suspects, enter it into our Christmas contest. I’ll post the best entries as they come in.
DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE (FOR EGREGIOUS RIGHT-WING HYPERBOLE): “”The recent Billy Elliot was not bad, if you ignored the ingredient of homosexual propaganda that seems to be compulsory in British movies nowadays – some edict from the European Union, no doubt.” – John Derbyshire, National Review Online. This bizarre one-liner comes in the middle of a perfectly entertaining piece on ballet. Why the slur? If you’ve seen “Billy Elliott,” you’ll know that it’s about a straight ballet dancer. The only conceivable piece of “homosexual propaganda” is the fact that this straight guy doesn’t disown and actually gets along with a gay friend. This is propaganda? What Derbyshire objects to is the simple human presentation of a sympathetic gay character – in a movie about ballet, for goodness’ sake. Imagine if the movie showed that Elliott befriended, say, a Jewish ballet dancer. Would that be a piece of “Jewish propaganda?” I’ve come to like much of what John Derbyshire writes and then he throws this piece of bigotry in there. What gives?
HIZBOLLAH UNREPENTANT: More calls for suicide bombing. “We tell Palestinians, stay tough. Our martyrs’ operations are laying the grounds for the coming victory,” declares Hizbollah’s secretary-general. “Do not listen to those who say these types of attacks go against Muslim Sharia (law). Those who say there are civilians and soldiers in Israel are mistaken. There are no civilians in Israeli society. All of them are invaders, collaborators in crimes and massacres, and it is for this reason that you must continue on your path.” Charming, huh?
THE OTHER GOLDBERG: Bernie Goldberg’s withering attack on liberal bias at CBS rockets to Number 13 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Internet (i.e. Drudge) fueled this. Methinks the liberal media establishment is melting, melting …
The Dish 