The San Diego Union-Tribune recently published a column of mine on California's high-speed rail project. The counterpoint article was written by California High-Speed Rail Authority member Lynn Schenk. As expected, it was filled with fantasy and wishful thinking, so I tried to bring a dose of reality in [...]
In Tim Iacono’s earlier post regarding Sen Jim Bunning’s less-than-flattering remarks about Ben Bernanke, he noted the groundswell of public opinion against the current Fed Chairman.
In fact, Rasmussen Reports has announced the results of its latest national telephone survey, and it reveals that 38% of adults regard Bernanke unfavorably, while only [...]
Here’s a letter that I sent earlier this afternoon to a reporter for CBS News:
Mr. Bob Foss, CBS Radio News
New York, NY
Dear Mr. Foss:
On today’s 1:00pm national-news radio broadcast you reported that the Senate voted to require all insurance companies “to cover mammograms and pap smears at no cost.”
The [...]
The House this afternoon approved, by a 225-to-220 vote, a measure to keep the current estate tax law in place permanently. That's a 45 percent tax on estates in excess of $3.5 million per individual ($7 million for married couples).
Of course, Congress doesn't always operate under the same definitional [...]
Breaking a three-day stalemate, the Senate approved an amendment to its health care legislation that would require insurance companies to offer free mammograms and other preventive services to women.
The vote was 61 to 39, with three Republicans joining 56 Democrats and the two independents in favor.
This happened directly [...]
The American Football Coaches' Association has released its 2009 All American Team. The wide receivers on that team are Notre Dame's Golden Tate and the University of Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard. Golden Tate has had a fine season, but how can the AFCA vote either one of these two players [...]
Yesterday, the House passed the "Enhanced S.E.C. Enforcement Authority Act" to grant new authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bill essentially says that if the SEC gets a court in any jurisdiction to issue a subpoena for witnesses and/or documents that the directive extends to any other jurisdiction. [...]
Seeking Alpha to Pay Contributors? — Red Herring
The Too Much Joy Royalty Statement — TMJ
“Isn't a 42-disc set of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman taking things just a bit too far?” — Slate
Gay marriage decisively defeated in NY senate, by 38 votes to 24. Unutterably depressing. —
For a country that usually likes to stay under the radar, Switzerland continues to get a lot of attention when it comes to its banking laws and international taxes.
Yes, things are still shaking out, with the names of the "most-wanted" account holders at the giant Swiss bank UBS to [...]
If the conservative faction of the Liberal Party prevails in the leadership vote on Tuesday by installing its own candidate, Tony Abbott, or a compromised candidate, Joe Hockey, then what should the liberal wing of the Liberal Party do about that?
They could remain and fight to take back control of the [...]
29 November 2009
Mr. Ben Bernanke, Chairman
Federal Reserve Board
Washington, DC
Dear Mr Bernanke:
I had to down an extra mug of coffee this morning to be certain that I read your op-ed in today’s Washington Post correctly. Sure enough, you claim to be worried about a recent House-committee vote to, [...]
While many people seem to be agitating for Turbo Timmy’s dismissal, an underground drumbeat has begun calling for Summer’s head:
How can you not find some appreciation for a blog that is devoted to helping a man spend more time with his loved ones?
[...]Matthew Yglesias writes:
Matthew Yglesias: Blanche Lincoln, Racing Horse: Blanche Lincoln has emerged as one of the pivotal votes in the US Senate debate about health care reform. So an article about her and her role in the debate seems like a smart thing for a newspaper to run. [...]
OK, you're right. The debate's been going on for years.
But the official, formal, legislative debate on Capitol Hill, specifically in the Senate, will go forward, thanks to Saturday night's vote.
The House passed its $1 trillion health bill two weeks ago. Senate leaders hope to get a [...]
Last night's Senate vote to move forward with the debate on the universal health "don't-care" bill left me deeply pessimistic that this monstrosity could be stopped now. The margin of resistance - mere four senators -- appears too thin for a filibuster. All Comrade Harry Reid had to do, it' [...]
Here’s a case study.
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The [...]
Go here and vote if it moves you. The category is Best Education podcast. You can vote once a day for the next two weeks.
[...]A few readers asked me to discuss range voting. Wikipedia defines it as following:
Range voting (also called ratings summation, average voting, cardinal ratings, score voting, 0–99 voting, or the score system or point system) is a voting system for one-seat elections under which voters score each [...]
