I have a lot to say a little on, so it’s time for a round-up post:
Obama Inserts Foot
Carol had the subtance of Obama’s blunder where he declared the lives of soldier’s lost in Iraq wasted.
Don Surber had a great reaction on this, given Obama’s habit of comparing himself to Lincoln. Surber begins by quoting the Gettysburg address:
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
v. Obama’s and declares:
By his words on Sunday, Obama showed that he is not up to the great task of the presidency or of resolving that these dead shall not have died in vain
.And with that, I give Surber a hearty Amen. We have to finish honorably, because our people have lost much but much has been gained as well. Whether it was our job to do it or not, they’ve been fighting a good hard fight.
Meanwhile Hillary is down in New Hampshire playing up her relationship with her husband:
As she made her first outing to New Hampshire as a presidential candidate last weekend, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton left her husband at home, yet she tried to tap his old political magic at nearly every turn.
Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York, mentioned Mr. Clinton at least eight times on Saturday — at one point talking about “Bill’s heart surgery” to illuminate her own travails with health care bureaucracy — and a few times on Sunday, most memorably when she said of Republicans, “Bill and I have beaten them before, and we will again.”
Of course, this came where Bill Clinton’s 8 point loss made him the comeback kid. (Oh, that Clinton spin machine; you have to respect it if not love it.) But of course, the simple truth is that she didn’t "leave her husband at home." at least not very often. She hasn’t for years. Bill is constantly jet-setting the world. Many divorced couples see more of each other, but now it seems that Hillary is making Bill something in her life he’s not in order to get power.
Meanwhile, the Row over John Edwards bloggers/technical advisers took a turn after the resignation of Amanda Marcotte with Shakespeare’s Sister’s Melissa McEwan quitting as well:
It is not right-wing bloggers, nor people like Bill Donohue or Bill O’Reilly, who prompted nor deserve credit for my resignation, no matter how much they want it, but individuals who used public criticisms of me as an excuse to unleash frightening ugliness, the likes of which anyone with a modicum of respect for responsible discourse would denounce without hesitation.
Of course the people who’ve been calling others Christofascist aren’t the ones to talk about making the debate ugly.
Dean Barnett describes the utter debacle for Edwards:
As for Edwards, he looks irredeemably pathetic. There’s a simple reason for this – he is irredeemably pathetic. He hired someone who had no business being legitimated by a mainstream political campaign. He then bowed to pressure and fired her. He then bowed to pressure again and unfired her. And then he left the stage to let her resign. In the wake of all these stumbles and pratfalls, he looks like a careless fool. He also may have alienated the Fightin’ Nutroots to boot. Well played!
Indeed, Edwards may not recover from this mistake. If he doesn’t, it says something about our very early primary process that a mistake in February, the year before the election becomes fatal.
Finally Club for Growth reports the deficit is going down and barring no changes, should disappear entirely:
[O]ur models expect average tax revenue growth of 9% over the next three years and spending growth of between 4% and 5%. This will generate a well below consensus deficit in FY07 of just $115 billion. Next year in FY08, we forecast a deficit of only $35 billion. On a 12-month basis, we suspect that the budget will move into balance early in FY2009, well before the Office of Management and Budget or the Congressional Budget Office expect. – Brian Wesbury, First Trust Advisors
We believe with spending restraint and no changes to tax policy either way the deficit will be eliminated before the expiration of Bush’s tax cuts December 31, 2010. That changes the entire political dynamics of renewal, although it will still be an uphill battle to extend these vital tax cuts. — Dan Clifton, American Shareholders Association
We continue to believe the interaction of massive liquidity with a lower marginal tax wedge on capital and a super-tight labor market will continue to drive overall revenues higher (both in absolute terms as a fraction of GDP). With a little gridlock along the way, the budget could move back into balance by May 2008 with surpluses emerging during the second half of next year. — Michael Darda, MKM Partners
Andy Roth remarks:
If these guys are correct, then those opposed to making the Bush tax cuts permanent will have to think of another debatable excuse instead of mounting deficits.
I don’t know the fact that the liberals want bigger government and think money is better off in the hands of Washington, DC than ordinary citizens should be enough justification for them.
whereIstand Tags
How about bombing Kosovo and blowing up school buses and ending up with the same result as if the US hasn’t spent billions of dollars on a bombing campaign.
Hating freedom? Hardly, you want Iraqi women beaten by their husbands and living under Sharia law. You want bloody civil war throughout all of Iraq and America to come home defeated and dishonored.