September 9, 2014

I Approve This Message On Job Approval

Events that have nothing to do with a president can cause his approval rating to increase or decrease, and it is because of this that it’s safe to say “job approval” is a meaningless statistic. Okay fine, I understand it’s not meaningless, because perception matters, but can we at least acknowledge that perception in this case is based on bullshit? Take a look at President Reagan’s approval rating. It averaged around 53% for his entire presidency, but it was up to 73% after he was shot in an assassination attempt. Why would that affect his job approval rating? Could it be that it’s a bullshit statistic? Or let’s look at the 80 to 90% approval (peaking at 92%…WTF were people smoking?) President George W. Bush saw after 9/11. What exactly did he do to deserve that unusually high approval? I’ll tell you what. He presided over the worst terrorist attack on American soil, then he got on a bullhorn at Ground Zero, pumped his chest, talked tough, and America approved. Yeah, I’d say the “job approval” statistic is based on bullshit, wouldn’t you?

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September 6, 2014

The First Amendment Does Not Exist If…

The First Amendment does not exist if it does not apply to everyone. There are no religious exemptions. There are no racial exemptions. There are no ideological exemptions. There are no “thought police” exemptions. There are no asshole exceptions. So, for the handful of conservatives out there who think Muslims in America do not deserve First Amendment protection, the equation remains unaltered: The First Amendment does not exist if it does not apply to everyone.

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September 6, 2014

Paul Krugman: Medicare Spending Is Down Sharply

Since the mainstream media is mum, and even liberal MSNBC is mostly silent, I thought I’d share a little tidbit about health care spending. Over the last few years, overall health care spending has slowed dramatically, and now we find out Medicare is spending $1,000 less per beneficiary than originally projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Paul Krugman says this is a really big deal (and it would seem so based on that statistic alone), and he calls it the Medicare Miracle.

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September 2, 2014

Deficit Spending: We Always Seem To Find Money For War

Republicans are against deficit spending. They are so against deficit spending, or even budget neutral spending, that they blockade nearly every bill that comes their way. But many of these same Republicans have no problem finding funds, even if it means running a deficit, as long as these funds are explicitly earmarked to dismember, maim, and blow shit up. Chris Hayes once said, “If you can run a deficit to go to war, you can run a deficit to take care of the people who fought it.” And that is true, unless you are a Republican, in which case you get to editorialize on the failings of Veteran Affairs (VA), put the blame at the feet of President Obama, and do so while voting against any additional funding for the VA.

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