Politics: Where we struggle to kneel in the muck.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
And bilmore wonders why some of us are so bitter.

I'm not bitter. Being in the top 1% is good. I just want the rest of my peers to have their tax cut treated like mine.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Kerry is not a New Democrat. He is a liberal Democrat that is more fiscally conservative than the Democrats from the 60s and 70s, but that is just a matter of degrees. Fundamentally, he still believes that government, rather than the individual, is still the primary fix for societies ills, and as long as he holds this view, he is going to need public money to support it.

Both candidates are big enthusiasts of using government to cure social ills and both are not afraid of using public money to do it.

Kerry wants to take a slightly less aggressive approach to dealing with terrorism, in terms of his willingness to use war as a preemptive tool. However, he wants to use the government and public fisc to help provide a better health care and employment structure.

Bush, on the other hand is a great adventurer, willing to use troops to impose order on an unruly world. He is also willing to use the Justice department and law enforcement to wield a big stick at home. He is not quite as cognizant as others of the cost of this strategy, but sooner or later, it's going to require someone to drop a bunch of federal money.

Kerry recognizes that his plans are going to cost and he is proposing rolling back tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans to pay for it. It's an open question whether or not the funds will be adequate, but at least he would start to pay for his ambition.

Bush, on the other hand, is in a wonderland. He appears to actually believe he can spend billions of dollars to be the Big Kahuna and call the tune globally and give out tax breaks that favor his donor base more highly thaan the rest of America at the same time.

The issue isn't really one of who is more "liberal" on taxes or spending, but who is the greater pragmatist.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala [on this particular show].

From the Corner (apologies to Gatti, who I already sent this to):

Haven't seen or heard this show yet, but I wouldn't be shocked by it.

TDS (and, by extension, Stewart) is currently the recipient of far more fame, adulation and attention than they could possibly live up to. Stewart's ostensible point -- which has some merit, though it's already been made elsewhere -- is that mainstream media are powerfully lazy, and that he considers putting up 2 opposing viewpoints and letting them scream at each other, without any other input whatsoever, intellectually dishonest.

Making the point as part of a TDS set-piece is funny, sometimes very much so.

Making the point on a darkened Charlie Rose set is fine as far as navel-gazing goes, though really it'll appeal only to us overeducated hippie liberal types.

Going on Crossfire and calling the journalists on that show lazy, stupid dickheads? Yeah, I can see how that would sound sanctimonious, and probably wouldn't go over very well.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by sgtclub
We should be discussing both and then some. Kerry will spend at least as much and more likely more than Bush and will raise taxes to do it. My guess is that the deficits under Kerry will be about equal to Bush's current, but who the hell knows. In any event, big spending + hire taxes = liberal. Math is hard, but that equation is easy.

Under that formula, Bush I was a liberal. Aren't labels helpful?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
Is the health care system an individual's problem?

The health care system is anything but an individual's problem. The insurance industry and the health care industry have worked together to the end that the individual is totally fucked by the system on both insurance premiums and on health care costs. The only way to keep from going bankrupt is to be employed by an employer who does a decent job of bargaining for good group health care.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
So I don't get to count all of those GOP votes for sunset as votes for tax increases? Damn, I thought I was finally getting the hang of the GOP calculation of a "vote to raise taxes."

ETA: Math is hard.

Actually, you do. That's how the CBO came up with a way to make the bills get through. They offset the tax breaks with the "increase in revenue" to be derived in later years when the breaks sunset. If the Republicans called them tax increases then surely the rest of us can.

[dtb]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Going on Crossfire and calling the journalists on that show lazy, stupid dickheads? Yeah, I can see how that would sound sanctimonious, and probably wouldn't go over very well.

The studio audience seemed to enjoy it. They were cheering pretty loudly. I couldn't see their faces though -- it was on the radio.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Here is a rough transcript of today's Crossfire.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Haven't seen or heard this show yet, but I wouldn't be shocked by it.

TDS (and, by extension, Stewart) is currently the recipient of far more fame, adulation and attention than they could possibly live up to. Stewart's ostensible point -- which has some merit, though it's already been made elsewhere -- is that mainstream media are powerfully lazy, and that he considers putting up 2 opposing viewpoints and letting them scream at each other, without any other input whatsoever, intellectually dishonest.

Making the point as part of a TDS set-piece is funny, sometimes very much so.

Making the point on a darkened Charlie Rose set is fine as far as navel-gazing goes, though really it'll appeal only to us overeducated hippie liberal types.

Going on Crossfire and calling the journalists on that show lazy, stupid dickheads? Yeah, I can see how that would sound sanctimonious, and probably wouldn't go over very well.

From Wonkette:

Tucker: You always scold people like this at dinner at your house?
Stewart: If they have a show that's as stupid as this one.
Tucker: You know, you're not as fun as you are on your tv show.
Jon: You know what, you're just as big a dick as you are on your tv show.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by dtb
The studio audience seemed to enjoy it. They were cheering pretty loudly. I couldn't see their faces though -- it was on the radio.

Well, I meant with the hosts. I didn't know there was a studio audience. Interesting.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

The New England chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign just stepped down today after the release of court documents implicating him in misconduct in New Hampshire in the last election. The state GOP hired a telecommunications firm to jam Democratic phone lines to frustrate get-out-the-vote efforts. The Bush campaign has known of his involvement for months, but only cut him loose today when the documents were released, which tells you something.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

TAPPED picks up another AP story on the phony flyer nonsense in Tennessee. The gist:

• Clearly, what was supposed to happen was that one operative was going to come into the campaign office and leave the flyers on a table full of other campaign materials, so that a second operative could come in, "find" the documents, and start raising a fuss. But Fitzhugh's quick-witted and observant volunteer, Kate Honey, spotted the materials and had them thrown away. So then the second operative comes by, expecting to find the materials there, and starts complaining about them -- before realizing that they've already been thrown away. As a backup, he goes out and retrieves them from the trash. Instantly, Dave Dahl's campaign, local Republicans, conservative bloggers (including Drudge), and the local and national branches of the Traditional Values Coalition are posting the flyer online and making noise about how awful it is.

Still not sure what bilmore was trying to say about the facts here. AP is, of course, indisputably biased.

[The Larry Davis Experience]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Here is a rough transcript of today's Crossfire.

Interesting. Good for him to refuse to be their trained monkey, invited only to get the laughs (although i did think a lot of it was funny). I'm not sure I like the preachiness, but if the guy's got something to say he should say it, even if it would be more entertaining in a bit with Rob Corddry.

I wonder if they'll have Carlson on TDS for a continuation, like they did with O'Reilly after the stoners comments. O'Reilly was actually one of the better guests they've had on of late, despite the involuntary snarl I get whenever I see him on the teevee.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by The Larry Davis Experience
O'Reilly was actually one of the better guests they've had on of late, despite the involuntary snarl I get whenever I see him on the teevee.

After I read the phone sex about the loofah, I now get kind of, well um, tingly when I see him.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Here is a rough transcript of today's Crossfire.

JS was being a dick and not funny. I am surprised.