tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post8749187950442948705..comments2024-03-29T05:03:05.347+02:00Comments on Dispatches from Vilnius: James Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-81277602388008370302010-01-26T08:50:21.246+02:002010-01-26T08:50:21.246+02:00It is hard to believe the impact this special elec...It is hard to believe the impact this special election appears to have had on the White House and Congress. Rather than taking it as an anomoly, which is what it was, they are now redefining much of their agenda, including proposing spending freezes on some domestic programs,<br /><br />http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_jobs<br /><br />Any study of economic hard times has shown that James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-5489477839430655612010-01-26T08:37:34.116+02:002010-01-26T08:37:34.116+02:00Don't hold your breath. I think Americans lik...Don't hold your breath. I think Americans like thinking of themselves as "independent," but in the end they line up for the most part behind one of the two parties. What ever differences they have seem to be mostly personal.James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-31957760157112156822010-01-26T05:09:53.416+02:002010-01-26T05:09:53.416+02:00I think it's a pox on both your houses. My gu...I think it's a pox on both your houses. My guess is even republicans were happy to get rid of Bush et al. (at least according to polls and how people identify themselves -- it's down to something like 22% who self identify as republicans). But Congress seems to have frittered away any good will on either side.<br /><br />My guess (hope) is that incumbent republicans are in as much avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-702879453597926092010-01-26T02:58:26.944+02:002010-01-26T02:58:26.944+02:00I can't find a link to the article, but accord...I can't find a link to the article, but according to one I read within the last few days, I've been entirely missing the boat in thinking of the two major parties when an ever-increasing number of people are registering Independent, and may well be thinking of themselves as such. Is this the populism Democrats thought they had all rounded up in their corral?NYT Perduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05799504399477460783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-49550355310031019102010-01-25T09:24:59.150+02:002010-01-25T09:24:59.150+02:00The Republicans are smarter in general in that the...The Republicans are smarter in general in that they know that an election is won by splitting contentious states, playing the rural and suburban vote off the urban vote. They play politics hard and dirty, seeing it as the numbers game that it is. Democrats still hold onto this fantasy that they can sway the masses, but Axelrod knew that if Obama was going to win the Democratic nomination and James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-1146538175033041762010-01-25T02:29:54.932+02:002010-01-25T02:29:54.932+02:00But the opposition has been sounding populist itse...But the opposition has been sounding populist itself. When Obama met with Clinton recently, Slick Willy may have reminded him that as the President he can co-op just about anyone's idea and pass it off as his own. I am glad to see that Obama is finally willing to listen to Volcker.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343768762996537750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-44399506833584541832010-01-24T22:26:20.797+02:002010-01-24T22:26:20.797+02:00Seems like each time the Democrats win they feel t...Seems like each time the Democrats win they feel that good ol' populist spirit rise up inside of them and think they have the will of the people behind them. They don't seem to realize that they will always be opposed by no less than 45% of the population.James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-89711697034551239442010-01-24T19:35:53.242+02:002010-01-24T19:35:53.242+02:00Republicans were also up in arms about the deficit...Republicans were also up in arms about the deficit Carter created. Of course, it, too, was inherited from Ford. But Reagan DOUBLED the deficit. Still the Republicans managed to blame Carter for the Ford-Reagan created mess.<br /><br />Can't say I blame the Pukes for this propaganda campaign. I blame the Democrats who stupidly insist on turning the other cheek rather than in speaking the Tripplerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16568801152695491482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-44462168507141626892010-01-24T09:48:40.302+02:002010-01-24T09:48:40.302+02:00I was looking at unemployment figures over the las...I was looking at unemployment figures over the last 30 years, and Obama has yet to top Reagan. For all the talk of Carter's "misery index," largely the result of a prime lending rate that topped 20% which stifled virtually any growth, unemployment was 7.5% when Reagan took office. It soared to 10.8% in his second year. Unemployment didn't come down to a health 6% until 1987, James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-54195344609108254222010-01-24T01:10:09.128+02:002010-01-24T01:10:09.128+02:00''That "idiocy" did manage to ge...''That "idiocy" did manage to get Obama elected and some movement on health care reform as well as progress on several other fronts on which many despaired of ever seeing progress''<br /><br /><br />After 8 years of Bush, even Carter could have won easily.Tripplerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16568801152695491482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-25032884342887212412010-01-22T19:47:28.330+02:002010-01-22T19:47:28.330+02:00Yea, all these foreclosures have been the result o...Yea, all these foreclosures have been the result of stupid individuals taking advantage of low interest loans when they should have known better. Nothiing inherently wrong with the credit system, the backbone of our "supply-side economy." But, someone has to cover all these defaulted loans. Seems like it would have made more sense to refinance these mortgages at lower rates than be James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-88634510790444421352010-01-22T17:54:30.878+02:002010-01-22T17:54:30.878+02:00It isn't easy to convince people of something ...It isn't easy to convince people of something they don't believe. The passage from his speech that you quote makes for great reading, but only if you're a liberal. Conservatives do not experience a personal sense of impoverishment when face with the needs of others. Those needs are their own damn fault and their own damn problem. Sadly, however, when times get tought it isn't Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343768762996537750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-26648032604007283482010-01-22T17:37:27.445+02:002010-01-22T17:37:27.445+02:00Yes, it seems like the country is only altruistic ...Yes, it seems like the country is only altruistic when it comes to bringing "freedom" to other countries.<br /><br />That is the one thing that I remembered from Obama's speech to the Democratic convention in 04:<br /><br />"For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we’re all connected as one people.<br /><br />If avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-63801000671090359432010-01-22T17:20:17.674+02:002010-01-22T17:20:17.674+02:00Obama and the Democrats have one big hurdle to get...Obama and the Democrats have one big hurdle to get over, and so far they haven't done a good job. That hurdle is the inherent selfishness of the American people. A selfishness, I might add, that is exacerbated any time the economy sours, because a weak economy gives the inherently selfish automatic cover.<br /><br />Over the years I've wondered why average Americans are content to see Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343768762996537750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-9919856840611703672010-01-22T16:53:51.495+02:002010-01-22T16:53:51.495+02:00Gary Hart. Good one! Brown is a very odd duck, b...Gary Hart. Good one! Brown is a very odd duck, but seems to be the candidate the republicans have been looking for. And as Pat Buchanan has predicted, he'll make a swing farther to the right once he gets into the Senate. <br /><br />As for Kerry, remember the vacation windsurfing? I know there is more to it than that, but that is what I remember best about his campaign. I did love avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-55885202069534398032010-01-22T10:33:14.028+02:002010-01-22T10:33:14.028+02:00Kerry let himself get blindsided by the Swift Boat...Kerry let himself get blindsided by the Swift Boat Ads, which is surprising since it was pretty much the same stunt Bush pulled on McCain in 2000, questioning his opponent's military record to take attention away from his own.<br /><br />However, Kerry ran a pretty good campaign. His problem was his inability to close it effectively, especially in Ohio. Unlike the Coakley-Brown campaign, James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-91531540521997043652010-01-22T10:27:57.490+02:002010-01-22T10:27:57.490+02:00Turns out Scott Brown was quite a hunk,
http://ww...Turns out Scott Brown was quite a hunk,<br /><br />http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/scott-brown-nude-in-cosmo<br /><br />and has two beautiful daughters,<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/scott-brown-daughter-biki_n_430291.html<br /><br />This guy has Gary Hart written all over him.James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-30705590136473501922010-01-21T23:35:13.118+02:002010-01-21T23:35:13.118+02:00I don't know ... I don't blame the democra...I don't know ... I don't blame the democrats on this. All the heavy hitters campaigned for her.<br /><br />Coakley reminds me a bit of Kerry. He won the primaries not because people felt passionate about him, but because he seemed to be the best candidate for everyone else to vote for. And then he sort of blew it on the image side, not to mention the swift boaters (although I'm avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-41520169490538530362010-01-21T07:23:41.615+02:002010-01-21T07:23:41.615+02:00The Mass. Democrats did this to themselves by maki...The Mass. Democrats did this to themselves by making this special election out of fear Romney would appoint a Republican if Kerry had won the 2004 Presidential election. Such bitter irony.<br /><br />But, what galls me the most is that Obama is now backing away from the health care bill, taking this stupid vote as a referendum, and saying to Democrats we must work with Republicans. Has he read James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-83752366291959208062010-01-21T05:28:53.920+02:002010-01-21T05:28:53.920+02:00Well, now, wait just a minute. That "idiocy&...Well, now, wait just a minute. That "idiocy" did manage to get Obama elected and some movement on health care reform as well as progress on several other fronts on which many despaired of ever seeing progress...all that gets no props just because of this one election, which may have just been a matter of overconfidence in the Kennedy legacy, counting his a "safe seat." <br />NYT Perduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05799504399477460783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-29831640705273633662010-01-21T03:24:54.626+02:002010-01-21T03:24:54.626+02:00Democrats gave away yet another political office. ...Democrats gave away yet another political office. As before, they simply refuse to fight for these positions and used a totally ineffectual candidate. There were plenty of Kennedy family members who were far better suited for the Senate and none of those Massachusetts Dimbocrats chose to use them.<br /><br />With the continued idiocy of the Dumbocraps, expect someone like Sarah Palin in the Tripplerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16568801152695491482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-74013208377111316552010-01-20T20:55:31.416+02:002010-01-20T20:55:31.416+02:00Good one, Gintaras.
I think this was a case of a ...Good one, Gintaras.<br /><br />I think this was a case of a very bad candidate (vs. a very good one) and some highly motivated voters.avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.com