Month: August 2010

A group of GOP senators is planning to push for a balanced budget amendment in the fall. Ezra shakes his head:

Lately, Republicans have been shocked and appalled that Democrats are even considering arguments that could lead to them considering changes to the Senate's rulebook. At the same time, Republicans are planning to introduce no fewer than two major amendments to the United States Constitution. One would change the way the country grants citizenship. The other would remove Congress's discretion to run budget deficits and surpluses. And both these changes would be to the Constitution, which the Founders made very difficult to change, rather than to the Senate's rules, which they made very easy to change.

Yglesias notes:

[W]hile the article describes the amendment as “the latest foray in a crusade that conservatives have waged for two decades,” this leaves out the fact that conservatives strangely declined to continue this crusade during the period when they controlled the entire federal government.

Still, at this point, as long as there is a clear exception for recessions, I'd be for it. It may be the only thing that could force the GOP to face reality. Alas, it's far too cumbersome a process and the urgency of serious cuts in spending is great. I should say up-front: I do not believe for a second that, barring a constitutional demand, a Republican-controlled Congress will ever cut entitlement or defense spending in any serious way. And if we get a Republican Congress and president in 2012, the debt will sky-rocket as it did under Bush-Cheney. But then I'm a fiscal conservative. Which is why my contempt for the GOP is so deep and so lasting.

… and cuts a major command from the military – part of the Pentagon's goal of reducing its budget by $100 billion over the next five years. Joe Klein is underwhelmed:

The most important thing here is context: the JFCom budget is $240 million in a Pentagon budget of over $700 billion. Gates intends to seek annual Pentagon budget increases of 1% per year; the savings from axing JFCom would be used to help fund the actual combat services being performed. That's good, but there's a larger question: How much of that $700 billion is actually necessary these days?

We can't ask that. It's anti-American! Ambers acknowledges the "political audacity" of Gates:

He has the credibility among all constituencies — the military, Congress, Republicans — to rationalize and restrain the defense budget in a way that President Obama could not do on his own, and in a way that a Republican president might not have the fortitude to ask for. Since the budget isn't actually going to be cut, Obama is not going to get credit from those on his side who will find Gates's measures cosmetic. But Gates, wittingly, provides Obama plenty of cover heading into 2011 and 2012, when many of these measures will take effect, and when congressional districts across the country will feel losses, and when Republican presidential candidates begin to make a case against Obama's stewardship of the national security establishment.

From the cutting room floor of her Bravo show (and understandably so):

Er, it appears she is directing a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. As one commenter at the theocon First Things notes:

Fox News' Mr Gutfeld proposes building a gay bar right next to the Cordoba Initiative complex in downtown Manhattan. Fantastic idea. That's exactly the right response to an expression of religious freedom: the expression of freedom for gay people as well. In fact, it's such a great idea that it could be followed across the country: gay bars right next to churches and mosques that condemn homosexuality. Wait, there's more:

The goal, however, is not simply to open a typical gay bar, but one friendly to men of Islamic faith. An entire floor, for example, will feature non-alcoholic drinks, since booze is forbidden by the faith. The bar will be open all day and night, to accommodate men who would rather keep their sexuality under wraps – but still want to dance.

Bottom line: I hope that the mosque owners will be as open to the bar, as I am to the new mosque. After all, the belief driving them to open up their center near Ground Zero, is no different than mine. My place, however, will have better music.

I suspect it will be a huge hit not just with Muslim gay men but with the bears (who doesn't like a bushy beard on a hot Middle Eastern dude?) and the Recovery community. A gay bar with an alcohol-free zone. Greg is ahead of his time. 

Any ideas on what to call it? Take it away, Dish-readers!

You can tell how damaging the half-term former governor’s encounter with a teacher yesterday was by the ferocity of the reaction. So we get a blog post screaming at the top of Memeorandum:

THAT WAS NO TEACHER

The post is from Gateway pundit, not exactly a blog to rely on for facts. He also gives a little hint of what life would be like in a Palin presidency. A simple sign protesting Palin’s delinquency and incompetence in her months of governing Alaska – “Worst Governor Ever” – is regarded by the blog as “rude and aggressive”. Being rude to public figures? We can’t have that, can we? Note: no Hitler mustache, no references to the Holocaust, no equation with Stalin, just “Worst Governor Ever”. But then it gets funnier. While Jim Hoft at Gateway was stating as fact that the Alaskan, Kathleen Gustafson, was a liar, the blog he was relying on relayed the following updates:

UPDATE II: So far no confirmation of Gustafson’s claim to be a school teacher. However she is President, Board of Directors, Kachemak Bay. Family Planning Clinic (KBFPC) in Homer, AK. Figures. …

UPDATE II: According to the Alaska Teacher Certification website there is a Kathleen Gustafson registered, but unknown if this is her.

UPDATE III: It’s not unless she lives in Juno…

UPDATE VI: According to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District website there is no Kathleen Gustafson registered as a teacher in the district which includes Homer.

UPDATE VII: Actually there is. A Kathleen Gustafson does appear on this PDF from the district. According to the document she’s not a teacher but a “Theater Tech” at Homer High School. I wonder how the school district would feel about her misstating or more appropriately impersonating a teacher.

UPDATE VII: … a “Theater Tech” can very well be a teacher …

So she was a teacher. She also performs in a drag queen band. Which appears to be a sign that she is a “left-wing loon.” And then the peroration:

Additionally I could care less whether she performs in a drag queen band or for a play. What is significant is that she is president of the Board of Directors, Kachemak Bay. Family Planning Clinic (KBFPC) in Homer, AK, aka, abortion rights organization.

We all know that progressives have targeted Sarah for not aborting her Down Syndrome Affected child Trig.

Yes, we all know that those of us who think this person is an unbalanced, unserious farce of a candidate for national office really loathe her for rearing and giving a home to a child with Down Syndrome, instead of killing him. Yes, that’s what it is.  

BTW, no update or correction at GatewayPundit. Palin herself insists that her eye-roll was not about Ms Gustafson being a teacher, since she has so many teachers in her family. She declines to explain then why else she was rolling her eyes at the mention of Ms Gustafson’s profession. Then this classic from the Wasilla wack-job herself:

Yes, it’s come to this: the media is now trying to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. (Maybe that’s why Botox is all the rage – if you can’t move your eyebrows, your “eye rolling” can’t be misinterpreted!)

I don’t think even Pelosi/Manilow-level Botox prevents people from rolling their eyes. But nice try, Sarah.

Daniel Indiviglio runs through several "significant potential upside[s]" to extending the Bush tax cuts to the rich for one year:

With little time for Congress to pass more legislation before midterms, it's fairly unlikely that any additional stimulus measure will pass. Then, pretty much everyone expects Republicans to add to their seats in the House and Senate. Since they're born again deficit hawks, it's not likely that they'll allow more stimulus in 2011. So even though extending the tax cuts to the rich might not be the best form of stimulus, it might be Washington's only option.

"Words don't mean anything to Governor Palin," – Ian Lazaran, Conservatives4Palin.com.