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Jonah Goldberg: Death Beats Irrelevance
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (9)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Jonah Goldberg referring to my post on why Bush should be prosecuted:
Me: No, I didn't know Erbe was still alive either. Self-parody keeps you young, I suppose.
Death beats irrelevance. The uber-right apparently didn't notice that in the last election it lost.
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The Hero of US Airways 1549
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (12) -
The Barack Obama Inaugural Could Join Those of FDR, JFK, and Reagan Among Greats
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (2)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I've been writing, thinking, and speaking (in connection with the recently released paperback edition of White House Ghosts) a lot recently about great inaugural addresses and what they have in common. And I suspect—beyond the obvious reasons—that the stars may be lining up Tuesday for a historic address.
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Migration Gives South and West Big Gains, Census Bureau Statistics Show
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (3)By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The Census Bureau released last month its estimates for state populations as of July 1, 2008, and the "components of population change," which are natural increase (births minus deaths), net international migration (a good proxy for immigration), and net domestic migration. Natural increase was 1,888,567, net international migration was 888,825, and net domestic migration for the nation was, by definition, zero. I calculated the net migration, international and domestic, for 2007-08, as a percentage of 2007 population for each state. All the big gainers—those with net migration of more than 5.0 percent—were in the West and South:
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On the Bush Farewell Address: He Couldn’t Defend the Country or His Record
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (50)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
Outgoing (thank God!) President Bush told any Americans who were listening last night that his legacy will be having kept America safe. Ha! Read this ditty from the Associated Press and make up your own mind:
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'Post' and 'Times' a World Apart in Reporting on U.S. Policy Toward Israel, Iran
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (8)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
This business of diplomacy is all about nuance.
Aside from, perhaps, the Federal Reserve, there may be no place in Washington where more is done with winks and nods, and reporters are required to read the tea leaves.
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Barack Obama Administration Should Cut Billions From Faith-Based Initiatives
Tweet Share on Facebook January 16, 2009 Comment (97)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Since Congress and the White House are promoting astronomical spending, there's got to be somewhere to cut the budget. Otherwise, as I've blogged before, the result will be an overstimulated economy and hyperinflation. I have an idea where the Obama administration could easily secure $15 billion in spending cuts in an area where the Bush administration spent wantonly and without any proof of success—faith-based programs:
"According to White House tallies, nonprofit groups received $15.3 billion in competitive grants in fiscal year 2007, an increase of 3.9% over the previous year. That figure included $2.2 billion to faith-based nonprofits, which have received federal grants of more than $10.6 billion since the initiative got underway in 2002."
Any other ideas out there? Post your thoughts in the comments section.
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Bush Farewell Speech? Ignore It
Tweet Share on Facebook January 15, 2009 Comment (81)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
When the nation is in the midst of the Bush-caused recession, the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, why do we have to listen to anything else that the person who perpetrated this disaster has to say? I say we don't! Tell the "historian in chief" to go fly a kite (everybody's got to be good at something, right?) and ignore him as he tries to persuade Americans that his tenure's not been as much of a disaster as we all know it to be. He's said in exit interviews with the media that history will have a kinder view of him than the American public does now:
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Thank God for the 20th Amendment
Tweet Share on Facebook January 15, 2009 Comment (5)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As you watch President Bush bid adieu to the nation this evening, say a quiet prayer of thanks for the 20th Amendment. That's the one that moved the presidential inauguration from March 4 to January 20. Can you imagine if we had to endure another six weeks of the Bush legacy tour?
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The Obama Inauguration's Carbon Footprint
Tweet Share on Facebook January 15, 2009 Comment (48)By Sam Dealey, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Team Obama says reducing the carbon-dioxide emissions that result from burning fossil fuels will be a priority, and some careless talk suggests his EPA will eschew carrots for the punitive stick of regulation and taxes. Now the good people over at the Institute for Liberty have punched back with a carbon-footprint estimate for the Obama inauguration itself.
