tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post2625052371330062772..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Catch of the DayJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-38317681939189644472012-06-07T17:54:05.954-05:002012-06-07T17:54:05.954-05:00I had a similarly blurry memory of the stimulus an...I had a similarly blurry memory of the stimulus and the beginning of the Tea Party, so I researched both. <b><a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-for-amnesiacs-2009.html" rel="nofollow">Here's my summary</a></b> on the stimulus. It answers the question: which Repubs voted for the stimulus? A: Snowe, Collins (both Maine) and Arlen Specter. No House GOP votes. Nada.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-for-amnesiacs-origins-of-tea.html" rel="nofollow">Here's my summary</a></b> of how the Tea Party started.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-30416154266921522042012-06-07T09:24:48.142-05:002012-06-07T09:24:48.142-05:00I too thought the piece was for the most part very...I too thought the piece was for the most part very good, but have one other bone to pick. Douthat writes, "In fact, it’s useful to think of Obama’s stimulus bill and Walker’s budget repair bill as mirror image exercises in legislative shock and awe, and the Tea Party and the Wisconsin labor protests as mirror images of backlash."<br /><br />I do not think the cases are analogous in important ways. Nearly everyone thought stimulus was necessary beforehand (McCain made stimulus part of his campaign platform). Sure there were disagreements about size and composition, but nearly everyone thought something should be done and a couple (few?, can't remember) Republicans even voted for the stimulus bill. It has only become unpopular after it has passed, including many people who called for stimulus at the time now mocking the idea. <br /><br />That is definitely not how it went down in WI. Walker's very proposal sent Democrats in the state legislature scrambling. Protests interrupted the vote at the time. The "shock and awe" of the stimulus was anything but at the time. This is looking at history through partisan glasses.<br /><br />Sidenote: I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the Tea Party formed in reaction to TARP and housing policies, not the stimulus directly. And TARP was bipartisan, so cannot be the mirror image of what happened in WI for obvious reasons.Steve McFarlanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-9258363746416009192012-06-06T21:36:51.819-05:002012-06-06T21:36:51.819-05:00longwalkdownlyndale,
"like stopping the clim...longwalkdownlyndale,<br /><br />"like stopping the climate from being radically altered and our current civilization ending is "not serious"."<br /><br />Just like there was no starve off due to The Population Bomb, their will be no earth-murdering climate change. Technology already exists to trap GHGs on an industrial scale. We continue to find new energy deposits which can power them. We're holding centuries of Thorium and already have small working reactors. Large ones will come on line. Even if the US doesn't convince the emerging countries to not accept the money we send them so that they will run our heavy industry, we'll be fine. Calm down.backyardfoundrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-26257370871401893742012-06-06T16:27:40.070-05:002012-06-06T16:27:40.070-05:00Oh Ross, looks like someone's been spending to...Oh Ross, looks like someone's been spending too much time with David Brooks! This is a great example of how big the disconnect between conservative public intellectuals and the Dems the purport to "cover" can really be. If Ross had talked to any Dem member of Congress about what they would like to do tomorrow if they got back into the majority in the house and the filibuster disappeared, the list would be miles long and would included more "ambitious" items than ending nutritional programs for poor children. But alas, Ross apparently did not pick up the phone or didn't listen if he did. Anyway, this is also a great example of how Krugman's "Very Serious People" seem to think. The only serious matter of public policy that exists is cutting entitlements and anything else, like stopping the climate from being radically altered and our current civilization ending is "not serious". And note I said cutting entitlement not balancing the budget as the Ryan plan doesn't balance the budget at all, indeed it makes the "crisis" worse.longwalkdownlyndalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173899547449318257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-27100753798360665722012-06-06T15:49:14.051-05:002012-06-06T15:49:14.051-05:00Bouie is right. The point is that there's alwa...Bouie is right. The point is that there's always an agenda for more government takeover. All Douthat needs to do is look at how Hollywood claims to live and note the differences with the rest of the country; those differences are the agenda.backyardfoundrynoreply@blogger.com