Ross Douthat: Obama was fantastic - worlds better than his inaugural. He laid out the most ambitious and expensive domestic agenda of any Democratic President since LBJ, and did it so smoothly that you'd think he was just selling an incremental center-left pragmatism. I think that he has an acute sense - more acute than most people in Washington, probably - of just how much running room is open in front of him at the moment, and he intends to make the absolute most of it. Burkean temperament or no, this was not a Burkean speech by any stretch: It was the speech of a man seeking to turn a moment of crisis into a domestic-policy revolution, and oozing confidence from every pore along the way. Now all he has to do is find a way to pay for it ...

And Jindal - yeah, he was just as lousy as everybody's saying.

rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/02/snap_judgments.php

stimulus vs. jindal
www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=218391&title=clusterf#@k-to-the-poor-house

bbc elemzes:

Determined Obama vows to renew US
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7909301.stm

Sixty-eight percent of speech-watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey Tuesday night had a very positive reaction to the president's address, with 24 percent suggesting they had a somewhat positive response and 8 percent indicating they had a negative reaction.

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/24/poll-obamas-speech-scored-with-viewers/

The Right On Jindal

...Some of this is cruel: the man had a very tough act to follow, and is new to national media at this level. But there are some core qualities that people look for in a president. Jindal doesn't have them now, and one suspects, for all his virtues, never will.

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/the-right-on-ji.html

mas:

The new language on the Hill
www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19247.html
Franken says in Hill language “Rahm” a verb meaning to persuade, with usage ranging from sweet talk to profane threats, frequently in the same sentence.

Louisiana has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid. How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana. Which is fine, as long as we don't have to hear their governors bragging about how the folks who elected them want to keep their tax money to themselves. Of course they do! That's because they're living off ours.

www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/opinion/26collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Here are some glimpses of the $3.7-trillion, 134-page page budget President Obama sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday:
www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19363.html

How Radio Wrecks the Right
By John Derbyshire

www.amconmag.com/article/2009/feb/23/00006/

John Bolton jokes about nuking Chicago, entire CPAC audience erupts in laughter.
thinkprogress.org/2009/02/26/bolton-nukes-chicago/

www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0209/AUC_No.html

"Who wants to hang out with guys like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich when you can be with Rush Limbaugh?” - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell @ CPAC

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/triumph-of-the-dull/

Porn in the USA: Conservatives are biggest consumers

www.newscientist.com/article/dn16680-porn-in-the-usa-conservatives-are-biggest-consumers.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

sic transit gloria mundi XD

In the days immediately after Barack Obama's nationally televised address to Congress on Tuesday night, his public support has increased significantly to 67% in Feb. 24-26 Gallup Daily polling, and is now just two points below his term high. This comes on the heels of a term-low 59% reported by Gallup on Tuesday.
www.gallup.com/poll/116224/Obama-Approval-Rating-Increases.aspx

OMG a legjobb no a feher hazban, ever

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2009/02/26/VI2009022603727.html?hpid=artslot

van benne egy kis ázsiai is, ha nem téved a szemem :P

"I'm one of those “wealthy” people who will be pinched hard by Obama’s tax hike. I came to this country legally 17 years ago with $300.00 in my pocket but with good education. I struggled at the beginning but nevertheless, worked my way up in the high tech world. I too think that the Obama’s tax proposals are extremely unfair as if I don’t pay already enough to Uncle Sam. And this article on a liberal web site just infuriated me beyond belief.

But after listening to and reading about CPAC conference which is held currently in Washington, DC, I realized that I would rather take my chances with Obama than anybody from that group. I can’t imagine that these people were in power for 8 years and yearn for more. This rabid bunch MUST be kept away from any kind of power for all of our sake."

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/100000-or-the-c.html

"Porn in the USA: Conservatives are biggest consumers"

Na és? Semmi baj azzal, ha vki pornót néz a neten, csak ha közben képmutató.

people.hbs.edu/bedelman/papers/redlightstates.pdf

Viszont a tanulmányt átnézve a lista elején, és a végén is konzervatív államok vannak. Az elején UT, AK, MS, viszont a végén is: SD, WV, AR. De előkelő helyen van a stabil Demokrata HI is. Inkább azt mondanám, hogy leginkább elszigetelt államokban magas az arány. Hiába, ha nincs egy jó kis strip club sehol a környéken, akkor marad az online pornó. :)

"Semmi baj azzal, ha vki pornót néz a neten, csak ha közben képmutató."

States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage," bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed.

akkor talan ennyit a vallas es az erkolcsok kozti osszefuggesrol.

So Rick Santelli, the CNBC stringer who vaulted to notoriety last week with an apparently impromptu rant demanding a "Chicago Tea Party" in defense of capitalism, turns out to be a conservative organizer funded by the Koch family who is working for a Chicago Tea Party" campaign that's been planned since at least August of 2008.

The only question now, I guess, is how quickly CNBC fires him.

www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=03&year=2009&base_name=i_dont_practice_rick_santelli

THE GOLDWATER MYTH
by David Frum

www.newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=024035b9-4878-401a-b9f3-b1cbcccbb2d0

What the GOP Really Wants: Obama's Autograph
www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1882491,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular

Rahm Emanuel tegnap:

Mr. Limbaugh has “called for President Obama to fail. That’s his view,” Mr. Emanuel said. “And whenever a Republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood.”

Michael Steele ma:

“My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.”…

“I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” Steele said…

abban az interjuban a "intelektualis ero" a rep. part mogott volt a legjobb:)

@mno: nincs itt semmi ellentmondás! :D

"... azt mondá nékik: Szaporodjatok és sokasodjatok, és töltsétek be a földet."

csak nem állnak neki felkészületlenül... ;)

Joe the Plumber Odds – will Joe make a run for office

Will he be hired as a commentator by a major network?
Yes +600 (6/1)
No -1000 (1/10)

Will he run for President in 2011-2012?
Yes +1200 (12/1)
No -2000(1/20)

Will he make a bid for the House of Representatives by the end of 2009?
Yes +800 (8/1)
No -1500 (1/15)

Will he be running for public office in 2009?
Yes +350 (3.5/1)
No -500 (1/5)

Will he win a public office in 2009?
Yes +800 (8/1)
No -1500 (1/15)

Will he win a seat in the House of Representatives?
Yes +1500 (15/1)
No -4000 (1/40)

Bettors can make a wager on any of these props by logging in, visiting the BetOnline.com Sportsbook and clicking on Futures/Props, then Exotics.

www.betonline.com/betting-edge/Joe-the-Plumber-odds-810.aspx

Agape With Wrath

Apparently John McCain was operating under a 120-day cooling-off period.

"I hope the American people will rise up -- rise up!" he exhorted on the Senate floor, chopping the lectern with his hand.

He growled. He roared. He flushed. He sputtered. He glared at colleagues. He hurled angry words, words such as "slap in the face" and "outrageous insult" and "disgraceful" and "theft" and "corruption."

"If it sounds like I'm angry," the senator from Arizona explained, "it's because I am."

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030202465.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

"States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage,"

Basszus, most kapcsolok. Ha házas ember leszek, akkor onnantól még pornót sem nézhetek? ;)

"Will he win a seat in the House of Representatives?
Yes +1500 (15/1)"

Ez nem is olyan alacsony.

További kérdés:

Will he buy the plumbing business he was supposed to buy in October?

Yes - 1:15000
No - Sorry we can't accept any bets

Was he serious about buying it?

Yes - Are you out of your mind?

Ezt én még nem láttam, jóóóó:

www.veryfunnyads.com/index.html?id=26276

Hogy vmi komolyról is beszéjünk. Az S&P 500 teljesítménye...

Mióta Obama nyert: -27%
Mióta Obama-t beiktatták: -14%
Mióta megszavazták a ARRA-t: -15%

(kb számok)

Egyelőre nem úgy tűnik, hogy a piac elhinné, hogy meg tudja csinálni a Stimulus és általban Obama a viszonylag rövid és fájdalommentes recessziót. Még van rá maximum 3 hónapja, hogy elhitesse a világgal, hogy dehogynem.

'Ha házas ember leszek, akkor onnantól még pornót sem nézhetek?'

ha pornot nezel rendszeresen, nem igaz a megallapitas, hogy 'i have old-fashioned values'. a porno a liberalizmus ajandeka a vilagnak!

What's on Those Destroyed CIA Tapes

The Justice Department announced yesterday that the CIA had destroyed 92 videotapes from the agency’s interrogations of high-ranking captured Al Qaeda suspects. In the case of one, Abu Zubaydah, that should not be surprising, because as one American intelligence source has told me, what Zubaydah says on those tapes is the “Rosetta Stone” of what really happened behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

He named two other Saudi princes, and also the chief of Pakistan's air force, as his major contacts. Moreover, he stunned his interrogators by charging that two of the men, the king's nephew and the Pakistani air-force chief, knew a major terror operation was planned for America on 9/11.

George W. Bush protected the Saudi royal family and the Pakistani military from the implications of Zubaydah's confessions. Bush, because of getting bogged down in Iraq, desperately needed Pakistani and Saudi help. He wanted them to keep Afghanistan from spinning completely out of control, and act as counterweights to the growing power of Iran.

www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-03/whats-on-those-destroyed-cia-tapes

"meg tudja csinálni a Stimulus(t?)...":
A stimulus (package) uton van, a sikererol leghamarabb 1 ev mulva lehet erdemlegeset mondani;

"és általban Obama a viszonylag rövid és fájdalommentes recessziót":
Ezt sohasem igerte, hanem epp az ellenkezojet. Ami egyreszrol a tenyek alapjan nyilvanvalonak latszik, masreszrol kiskapu arra az esetre, ha a recesszio melyul jovoben.

Nem kell "t" a végére. Meg tudja csinálni amire szánták.

Valóban nem ígérte, de baromi jó lenne, mert különben nagyon nagy baj van.

WTF!

Blockbuster reportedly hired a firm to explore bankruptcy options, mulling whether or not they should declare bankruptcy or restructure or both.

www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/030409dnbusblockbuster.20c5600e.html

'Valóban nem ígérte, de baromi jó lenne, mert különben nagyon nagy baj van.'

mit ertesz nagyon nagy baj alatt?

blogpost of the day :))

Does Anybody Here Understand What A Tax Bracket Is?

My post about ignorant rich people who think they can have a higher after-tax income by holding their earnings under $250,000 a year brought on a follow-up from National Review's Stephen Spruiell:

"But these taxpayers have other reasons to be worried. Obama has proposed increasing the tax rate on capital gains and dividends from 15 to 20 percent for those taxpayers earning over $250,000 (married) and $200,000 (single). If that's implemented without any kind of phase-in, then going from $249,999 to $250,000 incurs a pretty big tax penalty, right? Maybe I'm wrong about this (if I am, I'm sure Chait will let me know)."

Jesus Christ, yes, you're wrong. Taxes on capital gains income and dividends work the same as taxes on ordinary income. When you move int a higher bracket, only the income above that level is taxes at the higher rate. So, the lowest ordinary income tax rate is 10%. Everybody, including Bill Gates, pays some of their income tax at the 10% rate. Nobody pays their highest tax rate on all their income.

Commenter "ratnerstar" has the right idea here: It's time to stop educating these ignorant rich people and start taking advantage of them. We have some number of high-income people out there who earnestly think they can increase their take-home pay by decreasing their salaries.This is one of the great scamming opportunities of all time, with the side bonus that the targets richly deserve their fate.

blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/03/03/does-anybody-here-understand-what-a-tax-bracket-is.aspx

Inside the Dems' anti-Rush plan

www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19596.html

Steele Cage Death Match

This morning I heard Don Imus moaning through a hole in his cowboy hat for the umpteenth time that it didn't make sense for Obama to be going after Rush Limbaugh, Imus being too set in his grizzled ways to comprehend the Machiavellian-Sun Tzu-Jedi mind game that's just been played.

www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2009/03/the-weather-outside-is-frightful.html

"mit ertesz nagyon nagy baj alatt?"

A nagy D-vel kezdődő szót, és annak következményeit.

Vagy a nagy L-t.

"nagy L" - Big Love?

L alaku recesszió. Japán 90-es évek(től)