The Hollywood Liberal

The Conservapedia Delusion of Andrew Schafly
As Stephen Colbert remarked during a speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner at which a visibly uncomfortable ‘President’ Junior Bush was on the dais, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” To counter that perceived ‘bias’ at Wikipedia, Eagle Forum nutcase Phyllis Schafly’s kid, Andrew, mounted a dimwitted Christopublican-Free Market-Literal Bible site in 2006 […]

Perry’s Book Due Out After Election
Look what’s coming just after the midterm elections: Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Despite Perry’s insistence that he’s not interested in running for president, this will surely fuel the speculation.

Health Care Law Will Not Reduce Costs
The health-care reform law enacted last spring won’t significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The report casts fresh doubt on Democrats’ argument that the health-care law would curb the sharp increase in costs over the long term. In fact, insurance companies have proposed rate increases ranging from 1% to 9% nationwide that they attribute specifically to new health-law coverage mandates.

Watch Out for the Super PACs
Bloomberg reports that at least 25 “super PACs” are fueling “a surge in money for this year’s elections following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down limits on corporate campaign spending.”

These new political action committees can take unlimited company, union and individual donations and explicitly urge voters to support or oppose candidates, unlike ordinary PACs and nonprofit groups.

“Of the 25 super PACs, at least nine lean Republican and 10 Democratic. There may also be dozens more that haven’t formally outlined their plans to the FEC… The super PACs include new units of established groups such as the Club for Growth, which supports lower taxes and favors Republicans, and the League of Conservation Voters, which primarily backs Democrats.”

Why Is College So Expensive? The War on Public Universities
The war on public universities began decades ago, and recent state budget cuts are the latest assault.

The war on public universities began decades ago, and recent state budget cuts are the latest assault.

Make a Direct Impact this Election Season with 10 Questions
All too often, campaigns and elections are only about who has the most money to buy the nastiest ads. Here’s a way to talk to your candidates directly.

All too often, campaigns and elections are only about who has the most money to buy the nastiest ads. Here's a way to talk to your candidates directly.

How America’s Working Class Died on the Disco Dance Floor
A new book describes how working-class America hit the rocks during the turbulent ’70s.

A new book describes how working-class America hit the rocks during the turbulent '70s.

"They Kill Alex": What One Father Did When His 20-Year-Old Son Came Home in a Casket
Carlos Arredondo never planned on becoming an activist. But when his son came home in a flag-draped casket, he had no choice.

Carlos Arredondo never planned on becoming an activist. But when his son came home in a flag-draped casket, he had no choice.

Move Chuck Hagel From Obama Team B to Team A
This next week on Wednesday, 8 September at the New America Foundation a group of academics, business leaders, journalists, and other policy practitioners — organized as ‘The Afghanistan Study Group’ will formally release this new report titled “New Way Forward:…



Chuck Hagel – Iraq War – United States – New America Foundation – Warfare and Conflict

The Great Jobs Depression Worsens, and the Choice Ahead Grows Starker
The Great Jobs Depression continues to worsen. The Labor Department reports this morning that companies created ony 67,000 new jobs in August. That’s down from the 107,000 they created in July. And because the government laid off temporary Census workers,…



Government – United States Department of Labor – Employment – Business – Labor Department

Angle On Whether U.S. Will Be Faced With A ?Revolutionary Situation?: ?Of Course Anything Is Possible?

In at least two separate radio interviews during her campaign for Nevada U.S. Senate, Republican Sharron Angle appeared to suggest the possibility of an armed insurrection against the U.S. government. Saying that the purpose of the 2nd Amendment “was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government,” Angle added, “if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.”

While her campaign repeatedly dodged reporters’ questions pressing Angle to clarify her remarks, ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Angle in an interview that aired on Top Line today what she meant. Angle at first tried to distance herself from her statement. “I don’t think that is exactly the way I said it,” she said. But later in the interview, Angle didn’t rule out the possibility of a violent revolution:

KARL: And of course Jefferson said the tree of liberty needs to be fed with the blood of tyrants and patriots from time to time but can you foresee us getting in a situation where there is such anger in this country that we’re in a revolutionary situation?

ANGLE: well I think at the conclusion of that discussion I said I hope not.

KARL: But do you think it’s possible?

ANGLE: Well of course anything is possible I suppose.

Watch it:

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent spoke with one of the radio hosts that Angle informed of her views on “Second Amendment remedies.” “The talk show host she spoke to tells me he doesn’t have any doubt that she was floating the possibility of armed insurrection as a valid response if Congress continues along its current course,” Sargent wrote when he first reported on Angle’s remarks in June.

Also during her interview with Karl, Angle denied that she said entitlement programs “violate the First Commandment.” “I don’t think that’s what I said,” Angle replied (it is what she said). “That was a discussion I was having with CBN. We were talking in very Christian terms, that’s what the Christian Broadcasting Network is so you speak the language of the folks you’re communicating with,” she said.

Top Republicans Silent On Hate Pastor?s Planned Quran Burning Event

This week, Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. William Caldwell, the training commander in Afghanistan, warned that Dove World Church’s “International Burn a Quran Day” on September 11 would put U.S. troops’ lives in danger and undermine NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. Despite their warnings, church pastor Terry Jones said his congregation would go ahead with the event.

Top officials in the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder have denounced Jones’ plans, but leading Republicans are refusing to comment. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reported last night that he asked top GOPers — including President Bush, House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY), Sens. John McCain (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), Jeff Sessions (AL), and Susan Collins (ME), Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Liz Cheney — if they would condemn Jones’ Quran burning in light of Petraeus’ remarks but none would offer any comment:

OLBERMANN: And so, today, Countdown asked several Republican politicians if they now, as they have in the past, urged Americans to listen to General Petraeus and support what he needs to win the hearts and minds of an Islamic country. … [We received] total silence today.

Watch it:

Olbermann is right, Republicans — including Cantor, Boehner, and McCain — have in the past demanded that lawmakers, administration officials and the American people listen to Petraeus.

But these same Republicans also recently disregarded Petraeus’ concern that “Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region.” So it seems likely they will again ignore his warnings.

Blaming Overhaul, Health Insurers Plan Rate Hikes
Janet Adamy, WSJ
Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections.Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators.

Is There a Class Ceiling for Hill’s Female Aides?

Obama Against Compromise on Tax Cuts
Jackie Calmes, New York Times
President Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the…

1994 Redux, By the Numbers
William Galston, The New Republic
National surveys dominated today's political news, and they made unhappy reading for Democrats. Some of the most interesting findings didn't get widely reported, however. Here they are, with my comments in italics:ABC/WP:Do you think Obama’s economic program is making the economy better, making it worse, or having no effect?