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Donald Trump in 2012? That's Just Silly
Tweet Share on Facebook March 1, 2011 Comment (18)There is a time in the yearly news cycle commonly known as "the silly season," a period in which people do stupid but often harmless things that make for amusing copy. Usually, this occurs during the heat of summer, or when there’s little actual substance to examine, such as two wars, an economy wrestling itself out of recession, and uncertainty in the Middle East.
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Wisconsin Union Fight Shows How Bosses Divide and Conquer Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook February 28, 2011 Comment (8)Watching the drama unfold over fundamental labor rights in Wisconsin, I can’t help but think of a grim joke locals told me when I was living in Budapest. It goes like this:
A Brit, an American and a Hungarian are approached by a genie, who offers each one of them a wish granted. “Well, my neighbor has a lovely country home I admire,” said the Brit. “I’d like one just like his.” Poof! It was done.
Then the American spoke. “My neighbor has a big, gas-guzzling car. I want one bigger and more expensive than his,” he said. A wave of the genie’s hand, and the car appeared.
Then the genie came to the Hungarian, who thought carefully. “My neighbor has a fat, healthy sheep on his farm,” the Hungarian said. “I want you to kill his sheep.”
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Starting to Look Like a Mideast Tyrant
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2011 Comment (53)Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is surely a busy man these days, standing his anti-union ground as his state government veers toward breakdown. But still, has he had no time to take notice of what’s been happening in the Middle East?
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Lessons from Frank Bailey's Tell-All Sarah Palin Book
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2011 Comment (12)What have we learned recently from a couple of embarrassing disclosures recently involving elected officials?
Put down the BlackBerry. Move gently away from the keyboard. At least, for heaven’s sake, think before you hit “send.”
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Palin, Limbaugh, and Bachmann's Weird Attacks on Michelle Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook February 23, 2011 Comment (19)For the people who still can't stand the fact that someone with a darker hue and a non-Anglo name is in the White House, it must be frustrating, looking for something to denigrate the woman who married him. And yet, they persist.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Is Aiming at Unions, Not the Budget
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2011 Comment (32)The standoff between the Wisconsin governor’s office and the state’s public employees is the most recent, and perhaps the ugliest, confrontation stemming from the budget troubles states are experiencing. But do not be fooled into thinking that the demands Gov. Scott Walker is making have anything to do with closing the state’s budget deficit.
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Lara Logan Assaulted--and Then Blamed
Tweet Share on Facebook February 16, 2011 Comment (102)Tragically, reporter Lara Logan didn’t need to go to a region of political unrest to be the target of vicious personal attacks and misogyny. She got it right here at home.
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott Plays Politics with High-Speed Rail Funds
Tweet Share on Facebook February 16, 2011 Comment (30)Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s announcement that he would reject $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando may generate the same reaction from other states as I display when someone at a dinner party piously turns down the chocolate torte: more for me.
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On Deficit and Housing, Congress Engages in Pointless Symbolism
Tweet Share on Facebook February 15, 2011 Comment (2)The minitrend of new members of Congress sleeping in their offices would be amusing if it weren’t such a sad metaphor for the approach to reining in the deficit and debt.
Bunking in the office isn’t new; lawmakers have done it in the past, particularly when the House schedule only required members to be in town from Tuesday nights until Thursday at noonish. What’s new is that some of the freshmen members see this practice as a statement, a sign that they are willing to sacrifice for the cause of frugality. It’s not, any more than getting rid of earmarks will do anything substantive to reduce the budget deficit.
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Obama Budget Proposes Sensible Overhaul of Corporate Tax Loopholes
Tweet Share on Facebook February 14, 2011 Comment (10)Lowering the corporate tax rate would cost jobs.
Mind you, the job loss would not be among those sad grunts now pictured in newspapers, signing up for unemployment benefits. No, the new unemployed would be the well-paid tax attorneys who scour the tax code for loopholes. They would be followed in the unemployment line by the lobbyists who bustle around Capitol Hill fighting to keep those loopholes.
