The Importance of Government

Limousine Liberals!

Hopes for Economic Rebound Fade

Depressing economic news.

Mediscare

Obamacare v Ryancare

Where's the beef Senate Democrats?

The NYT asks.

U.S. "Dragon Tattoo" Movie Unveiled

Weinergate

Inconceivable!

The five percent solution

In NJ: Cutting Taxes > 90% of Scientists

Chris Christie...Too Big to Fail!

Michele Bachmann was cute in high school

Rick Santorum not so much.

The WSJ Editorial Page at Work

Are the "Young Guns" a Threat to Boehner's Speakership?

A pretty long article about the dynamics within the GOP leadership. I found it interesting to read about the personal relationships and ambitions of Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan. I personally don't think that Boehner is going to be able to hold onto the House GOP caucus for that much longer because he's much more of an 'old school' Republican/ dealmaker. Also, Cantor seems like a pretty feisty and ambitious lieutenant who is much more respected by the more conservative, GOP freshmen. I'd rather keep Boehner on top; Cantor doesn't seem very smart or willing to work with Democrats on anything, which at this point, is necessary for the governing of our country.

More mediscare

The eco-mafia

A strong GOP field?

Jay Cost thinks so.

Cool hand Harry

Justice!

Kathy Hochul Figures Out How To Solve Our Deficit Problem

Genius! Why didn't anyone realize we could fix the deficit problem by cutting aid to Pakistan? Talk about playing off people's ignorance..

TPaw Comes Out Against Corn Ethanol!

Breaking news: Disqualifying info about Newt!

TPaw rollout

Another one bites the dust

Herman Cain, Rand (or Ron) Paul, and Michelle Bachmann are starting to look pretty good. Who will be the leading conservative crazy primary candidate? Heck, maybe Rick Santorum (still one of the best google searches of all time) will capture Mike Huckabee's base of religious right-wingers who dominate Iowa and South Carolina.

Beyond Mediscare

Is the GOP Losing Their Grip On Reality?

I don't really agree with the author's discussion of birtherism, which seems pretty dead to me now, but agree with the overarching analysis in the piece.


In related news, Jon Huntsman is catching some heat from conservatives for acknowledging that 90 percent of climate scientists agree that global warming is occurring:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/05/jon-huntsmans-climate-problem

And the primaries haven't even started yet! Don't worry, more mind-boggling entertainment, and general foolishness is on it's way.

Our Asymmetrical Political Parties

Criticism of POTUS from Israeli journalist

Money Money Money Money Money

Tea Party Rising

In case Julia's visiting the blog...

A) her favorite columnist wrote this delightful passage:

There has been no suggestion that Mr. Daniels behaved wrongfully in private, much less in public. Mrs. Daniels's actions back then are reminiscent of Meryl Streep's character Joanna Kramer, the villain in "Kramer vs. Kramer." But since the Indiana first lady is a private citizen who appears to have no political ambitions of her own, her past indiscretions are none of anyone's business.

Of course, Taranto cites no sources providing him additional knowledge about the marriage and seperation. But he still has the nerve to cast aspersions on Cheri Daniels, who apparently is the villian of the story who committed "indiscretions." I wonder what Taranto was hinting at here? Way to keep it classy.

B) In other Julia-related news, I attended two events at the AEI this week. First, on Monday an interesting panel discussion about Medicare, and then Wednesday I got to witness Senator Toomey's economic insanity. Too bad the Hamilton spring semester program wasn't still going- I would have liked to pester Julia at her place of work.

CDC is prepared for Zombie Apocalypse

Two Americas?

Stephen Colbert inadvertently makes case for Citizens United

Why Feminism Irritates Me

The most recent feminist shenanigans to piss me off. Let's demand respect by dressing trashy and holding up signs that say I love sluts. AHHH$@%#$

Outlaw country potheads for Johnson

Supply-side ideology > Entitlement Reform

Conservative cannibalism

See the original take-down of the WSJ by the Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank, here: http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=&d=27021611219232694&w=e28d42cc,f55e3245

I wonder why the Tax Foundation took down this excellent piece of analysis?

I couldn't help but giggle...

at reading this:
"And then there’s the claim that hard money is the key to growth. Milton Friedman turned over in his grave."

What's weird is that I remember when the National Review and other conservative organs were obsessed with Friedman as the paragon of conservative economics (back when I was a subscriber in middle-school and high-school). However, more and more the Republican Party (and it's weird synthesis with supply-siders, Tea Partiers, and libertarians) is promoting bizarre economic ideas that aren't backed by either theory or evidence (which is scary when considering you can usually scrounge up at least one of these). They have also moved well beyond much of what Friedman, for instance, proposed. He may have politically pushed many arch-conservative points, but his economic contributions hardly justify the conservative pseudo-economics every Republican seems to subscribe to currently.

On the hard money subject, what's interesting is that those countries commonly-cited by conservatives as successful examples of fiscal consolidation (i.e. austerity of spending cuts for deficit reduction combined with economic growth) frequently weakened their dollar to boost exports to compensate for the economically-damaging effects (well established in the short-run time frame) of sizable government spending cuts. If Ryan & Co. had their way- combining fiscal austerity with a strong dollar- we'd almost certainly drop quickly into a harsh recession.

Did I lead you astray?

Tax the middle class!

Are you there, PBM and PL?

PBM, THE DEMS ARE TURNING!!!! THEY GOT SUCKED IN....

Rove Kickin' it Old School

Boehner Spewing Economic Nonsense

Here's the beef!

Eric Holder is an idiot.

Semester in Washington

I apologize for the delay in writing this, I have been in Pakistan.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Anyway, I had a fantastic semester in Washington in every fashion. After living in the city on and off for two years, it was fantastic to get the perspective of a student studying and working in DC rather than just working. By and large, I enjoyed the Pentagon tour the most. Being able to see such a massive enclave of employees from nearly every government agency was fascinating. The building itself is both expansive and intimidating, representative of a Department that needs more money for the necessary functions it performs. Yes, I said the DoD needs additional funding. Had to throw in a political comment somewhere.

Between visting the Pentagon, sitting in a room that Abe Lincoln sat in for his $5 bill portrait, and having the chance to take daily runs along Pennsylvania Avenue, I have to say that DC couldn't get much better. We had about three weeks of winter, and I wore a winter coat on only one day of the entire semester. I don't think I'd find that in Clinton.

Finally, I have to say that the debates we had in class every Thursday were by far my most enjoyable academic experience I've had at Hamilton. Not only did we all learn about current issues, but we all learned about the significance of putting forth a convincing and persuasive argument. I know, without a doubt, that my public speaking skills improved greatly because of the class.

In any case, thank you to Professor and the rest of the class for a great semester.

All the best,

Peter

Thinking of PBM....

Finally someone to represent PBM and Co in Congress...a new future?

Who knew Jim DeMint was a left-wing/liberal/socialist/freedom-hater?

Chris Lee's potential Republican replacement

And yes, it's a joke

Components of fiscal shortfall

It's the economy, stupid.

njDylan has taken his talents to...

The AlmightyPhilly sports blog...check it out...I give all credit to TJE for making me the blogger I am today (my new name is "The Savior"...no njDylan anymore)

How Paul Ryan's Budget Would Harm "Sick and Vulnerable Citizens"

Brought to you courtesy of Patrick's employer.

Could OBL's Death Bring a Quicker End to the War in Afghanistan?

Guess who I'm seeing today...

Is he leaving Cleveland and taking talents elsewhere?

One last "Eat the Rich" item for PBM and PL

Realignment in Canada?

The rise and fall of ubl

One last time for Julia G

The Power of Twitter

As Ezra Klein put it:
"Athar, it turned out, was livetweeting the operation to kill Osama bin Laden. To put that slightly differently, this was one of the most important, secretive, tightly managed covert operations in U.S history — and it was tweeted on in real time."

Handwringing about celebrating UBL's demise

Megan takes PBM to zoo

Bloomberg's plan to save Detroit

TJE opines

The 4% solution

Clues to Bin Laden began at Gitmo

A GREAT DAY TO BE IN DC

David, Julia, and I trekked down to the White House to join in the celebrations. I happened to get a picture with a professional DC blogger. Of course I dropped "Potoma Fever" to him. THE BLOG AND THE GREAT AMERICANS OF THE DC PROGRAM LIVE ON!!!!! AND OSAMA DOES NOT!!!!!!!!!! SEE YA LATER BIN LADEN.

Oh and p.s. Julia David and I got on Fox News, nbd

WE GOT HIM

Cancel the final?

It Does Not End Here

Nation,

Although the semester has come to a close, fear not! You can still listen to and read about your humble Mr. Thresher. Follow me on twitter (@iancthresh) to hear all about my internship/observations/musings over the summer. If this semester is any indication, my words should astound/infuriate/entertain you all while providing an insight into the mind of your future president. Whether it is criticizing the war in Libya, making preposterous arguments about the links between fraternities and charity, or going over the merits of Republican ideas (it does, after all, have to be less than 140 characters), I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you.