Here’s a pop quiz: How much money has Uncle Sam spent on New Orleans and the Gulf region since Hurricane Katrina ripped the place apart?
The grand total is $127 billion (including tax relief).
Read Lawrence Kudlow’s article, the Billion Dollar Boondoggle.
At the beginning of his press conference yesterday, did Sen. Larry Craig really say:
“Thank you all for coming out today…”
I about died laughing.
Larry, you “nasty, bad, naughty boy,” you!!
You still have your sense of humor, if not your dignity.
What is left to say about Sen. Larry Craig? The stupid thing is that so many of these gay Republicans who are in denial have already been outted, including Craig. Yet they just can’t resist harrassing young interns and pages, or soliciting sex in public restrooms, and then denying that they did it. It must be the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of the possibility of being caught or ‘outted’. By their actions, these repressed gay Republican politicians seem to be more sexually repressed than Catholic priests, or even so-called “Evangelicals” like Larry Haggard who purport to speak to God on Sundays but who then have no problem going out and doing drugs while having a homosexual encounter.
Whether a Democrat or Republican, Craig must resign. Character must count for something on Capitol Hill, or else it means nothing.
Resign Mr. Craig. Then you can let it all hang out as often as you want. Obviously, satisfying your basest desires through soliciting anonymous sexual encounters in an airport bathroom is more important to you than bringing honor to the people of Idaho.
Look – its not so much that your behavior that is disgusting, Mr. Craig. But rather, its the pretense that you are someone other than who you really are. Until you can publicly represent the “real Larry,” you shouldn’t purport to represent the people of Idaho.
The shame isn’t that you’re Gay, Sir. It’s that you’re a fake and a liar.
“So what do you think about that?”
News from the Edwards campaign:
Democratic Senator John Edwards now holds solid leads over the two leading Republican Presidential hopefuls. The most recent Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows Edwards leading former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani 49% to 41%. Edwards dominates former Senator Fred Thompson 49% to 35%.
A month ago, Edwards held a virtually identical lead over Giuliani. In between, Giuliani had closed the gap to two points in early August. This continues a trend that began in April, with Edwards consistently polling in the mid-to-high 40% range against Giuliani while the New Yorker has polled in the mid-to-low 40’s.
Giuliani started the year with the edge over Edwards. He came out on top in five Rasmussen Reports national telephone polls between November, 2006 and March of this year. Since April, seven more polls have been conducted and Giuliani has not been ahead in any of them..
Edwards has led by double digits in four out of six previous match-ups with Thompson.
Edwards also leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Arizona Senator John McCain in Rasmussen Reports polls.
While he generally outperforms other Democrats in general election match-ups against Republicans, Edwards remains mired in third place in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. On the Republican side of the aisle, Giuliani and Thompson have been on top for several months.
Survey of 800 Likely Voters
August 22-23, 2007
Yes, Hillary is a woman. I can’t deny that fact. And I am ok with her femininity. Honest!
That’s what makes it so difficult to express these thoughts. But while I have no problem with a woman being President — in fact, its high time that my daughter had a female presidential role model — my problem is with THIS woman.
Hillary Clinton is a Washington insider. There is no “outside’ to Hillary Clinton — only “inside.” Just look at how she has used her inside knowledge of presidential politics, her insider contacts for raising money, and the experienced insiders who are managing her campaign. Just look — the details are there.
I worry about the future of democracy in America if voters are continually asked to endorse the recycling of presidential administrations. George W. Bush was able to use his Daddy’s old insider contacts to completely stymie the democratic process and congressional oversight (a full list of his ill deeds would simply take too long here — but you get the drift). If an idiot like George W. can do what he was able to do, I am very worried about what a recycled Clinton presidency could accomplish.
If Hillary is elected, its possible that America’s Presidency could be in the hands of just 2 families for 28 years! In fact, I would rather simply not go there. America doesn’t want to go there.
In my book, a better leader is John Edwards. Not because he’s a white guy, but rather because I agree with him on the issues, from Iraq to healthcare to poverty. Next in line for the Moderate Liberal would be Barak Obama: although Obama looks and sounds presidential, a bit more experience would go along way for dear Barak.
An Edwards/Obama ticket would be a stellar accomplishment for the Democratic party. It would show that the party has depth, and that its able to read the pulse of America. Edwards/Obama would be an admission that Democratic party values its highest quality candidates over its wet-dream to redeem the impeached Clinton presidency (yeah, yeah — I know, but impeached nevertheless, and for all of history).
Democrats could do so much better for America than to recycle the Clinton Administration’s Washington insiders. If they can’t, then moderate Americans (who will be the king makers in 2008) may find themselves forced to look to a soon-to-be-professed “changed” and reinvented “New” Republican party, freshly contrite, to shake up the old guard.
The Republicans are already working to neutralize Iraq, the Democrat’s strongest issue, as a factor in 2008. Next month (Sept. 2007), expect Bush to announce a plan to begin troop withdrawals. Karl Rove will do whatever he has to do to remove Iraq as a stumbling block for the Republican candidates. All that will be left to discuss is how quickly the withdrawal will occur, and Clinton has already conceded a long withdrawal.
While the “New Republicans” run far away from Bush’s failed policies and rebuild the party, voters will give them a new look. What will the Democrats have on offer for America that is new and exciting? A recycled Clinton presidency?? For an America that is once again looking to change, it won’t be enough. After all, we’ve already had Hillary as shadow president for 8 years: why should we take a chance on another recycled administration, when Bush has made it so very clear that its such a bad idea?
Believe it or not Democratic faithful, you are fully capable to blowing this presumably “slam dunk” presidential election. By choosing Billary Clinton as their nominee, they are opening the door to pain, frustration and loss. The moderate vote will not go to Clinton, it will split your party, it will spur a 3rd party candidacy and it will drive away moderates.
Even the moderate liberal could be susceptible to the temptation of a 3rd party candidacy if Clinton is nominated. In our hurry to elect a minority President, lets not play directly into Karl Rove’s hands and give the election to the Republicans.
Look at how the early numbers match up against Republican front runner Guliani:
Guliani vs Clinton: Guliani leads by 7%
Guliani vs Edwards: Edwards leads by 2-3%
Yes, there’s a long ways to go. And yes, these polls are certain to change. And yes, Clinton’s insider machine has been preaching to the choir more than to the country. A Clinton presidential candidacy is already feared by some democrats as being too polarizing, and could result in a backlash from moderate voters (read the ModerateVoice’s post on the subject).
While Hillary Clinton is guaranteed to enjoy success with her Democratic insiders, making it easy for her to jump out to a seemingly insurmountable lead in primary polling among the party’s faithful, most active and most liberal, what is guaranteed is that she will not enjoy such support among right-leaning and centrist voters.
Clinton is NOT inevitable.
Democrats, do not forsake your best candidates simply to elect a woman. There will be other qualified female candidates who do not come with such polarizing baggage. America deserves better, and should look to John Edwards.
Today is a big day in the life of the moderate liberal. Its the day that I stopped by subscription to the Wall Street Journal. Rupert Murdoch, owner of such trash as Fox News, recently succeeded in acquiring WSJ. He may very well keep his promise to invest in WSJ and keep his dirty little hands off of this journalistic gem.
But then again, maybe not.
So after being an online WSJ subscriber for four years, I decided not to take the risk. I cancelled my WSJ subscription, substituting the New York Times instead.
I wish all of my favorite writers at WSJ — especially Walt Mossberg — much success with their new owner. The sin of the WSJ staff is that they’re just too talented, so that they attracted a scum bag like Murdoch. But in good conscience, I just can’t send any money to any organization associated in any way with News Crap, er… News Corp. I want no part of Murdoch or any paper he owns.
Adios, WSJ.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion, The Associated Press reports.
The Moderate Liberal says: Only $188 billion to fix all of our 70,000 structurally deficient roads and bridges?
What a bargain, when compared to the War in Iraq, where George W. Bush has now spent nearly $500 billion, with no return to the American public.
While George W. Bush finds unlimited funds for War, the bridges in America tumble down, and its roads fall further into disrepair, and the national debt (borrowing from our children’s future) spirals out of control. The hard earned tax dollars of the American people are “invested” in a foreign land, while our country’s infrastructure crumbles, and Haliburton moves their headquarters to Dubai.
Where are our national priorities? Think about it — at a fraction of the cost of this war, we could fix all of America’s bridges. But instead of handing our kids a country with excellent infrastructure, our gift to them will be a debt the likes of which no American generation has ever been burdened with.
Nationwide general election polling shows John Edwards is the Democrat with the best chance of defeating the Republican candidate in the 2008 general election for President. Edwards is the only Democrat with a significant lead in a head-to-head match-up against Republican frontrunner Giuliani. Against the other three major Republican candidates, Edwards’ average margin of victory is virtually identical to that of Barack Obama, and significantly higher than Hillary Clinton’s average margin.
Edwards also outperforms the other Democratic candidates in match-ups with Republican candidates in key battleground states including
The Moderate Liberal prefers John Edwards, and we anticipated this polling result long ago. Hillary Clinton (Billary) is not the candidate that America needs. A Presidential succession of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton is not healthy for America. If Clinton is elected, two families would have controled hte highest office in America for nearly a quarter century.
America has a better choice, and that’s John Edwards. Obama is not far behind. And if Democrats want to win the Whitehouse, they better start paying attention to these polls, and not Hillary’s war chest. In a polarized electorate, I do not believe that Clinton can sway the important moderate liberals, and left leaning independents.
Moments ago, a major bridge collapsed in Minneapolis on I-35W. At this moment, people are being rescued from the water and wreckage.
As a writer who lives in Minnesota, I’m feeling a mixture of horror and anger. Horror that such a tragedy could occur in a state that used to pride itself on the quality of its infrastructure. And anger at how the Republican Congress has held up transportation funds, at the same time Republican Governor, Pawlenty, has gutted the budget in the state for roads and infrastructure. As early as 2004, Minnesota Public Radio observed:
?Minnesota’s highways are deteriorating faster than the state can maintain them. Transportation Department officials say more than a third of state-maintained roads are in a category called “too far gone.” The result is that for the first time in 20 years, the state’s road quality index is declining. State officials are counting on Congress to approve a transportation spending bill that will help the state catch up. But others say the cost of stopping the roadway deterioration means raising state taxes.
Soon, we will learn the high cost of mismanaging our critical infrastructures. While there is seemlingly no money in our nation for maintaining roads and bridges, there remains unlimited funds for waging war.
Where are our priorities? Oh, the humanity.