From Reuters: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fueling an unexpectedly strong advance. Signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years, the Commerce Department on Thursday said the economy expanded at an […]
Bush Administration
Leon Panetta: Idiot
Remember that whole Nancy Pelosi, the CIA lied to Congress brouhaha? Turns out Leon Panetta’s an idiot… Joseph Finder at the Daily Beast has the details: CIA Director Leon Panetta’s emergency testimony to Congress about an illegal assassination program has set off a crisis at the spy agency. The Daily Beast’s Joseph Finder exclusively reports […]
About that Alleged CIA ‘Lie’
From the Wall Street Journal: As political spectacles go, one would be hard pressed to find anything as ridiculous as the Washington Romper Room now starring Congressional Democrats and the CIA. If only the consequences weren’t potentially so damaging for national security. The latest episode comes courtesy of Silvestre Reyes, Chairman of the House Select […]
Pelosi v. CIA
From the Wall Street Journal: The last time the CIA and Nancy Pelosi were in the news together, the House Speaker was accusing the agency of lying about its briefings to Congress on the interrogation of al Qaeda detainees. This week, the Speaker’s fellow Democrats are set to block public disclosure of what Ms. Pelosi […]
Big Govenerment: Thousands of New Regulations Costing $1.17 Trillion in 2008
From CNSNews.com: An annual report issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) shows that the U.S. government imposed $1.17 trillion in new regulatory costs in 2008. That almost equals the $1.2 trillion generated by individual income taxes, and amounts to $3,849 for every American citizen. According the 2009 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual […]
No Criminal Prosecution for ‘Torture Memo’ Authors?
It appears that the Bush Administration lawyers who authored the so called ‘torture memos’ are going to escape prosecution, the Justice Dept. will instead refer them to State Bar Associations for disciplinary action: The Justice Department said it is nearing completion of an internal probe that is expected to recommend professional sanctions but no criminal […]
Chris Dodd Likens Bush Administration to Nazis?
Umm, Senator do you really believe that water boarding is the equivalent to the systematic persecution and genocide of roughly 11 million people? You know what… Don’t get mad, get even. (H/T : Melissa Clouthier via Red State.) Related Presidents Don’t Prosecute Their Predecessors, David Shribman, Real Clear Politics Dodd: We prosecuted the Nazis so […]
WSJ: Misconceptions About the Interrogation Memos
William McSwain, a assistant U.S. attorney and executive editor of the 2005 Review of Department of Defense Detention Operations and Detainee Interrogation Techniques, commonly called the Church Report has a must read Op Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama has reinvigorated the critics of George W. Bush’s antiterror policies by opening the […]
Is April 21, 2009 The Day Bipartisanship Died?
There’s no doubt that our political process has become poised by hyper partisan rhetoric but so far we have resisted the temptation of criminalizing policy differences. That all changed on April 21, 2009 when Pres. Barack Obama suggested that Bush Administration lawyers who advised the CIA on the law and interrogation practices may subjected to […]
Treasury Throws Auto Industry a Life Line???
Damn! What is it with the Bush administration? Senate Republicans rightly stopped the auto industry bail last night and today the Bush Administration decides to use TARP funds to throw a life line to GM and Chrysler. From FoxBusiness: Despite the abrupt death last night of bailout legislation in Congress, it seems the Big Three […]
Video: Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?
This video has been floating around the web for a couple of days… It provides a detailed look at how the Community Reinvestment Act was used to push banks into sub-prime mortgages and how that distorted the housing market… And helped create the bubble that burst. A couple of caveats though… First it lays the […]
It’s About Time…
Finally! We’re finally starting to see some signs of life from the Bush administration and republicans in congress. Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is another half measure… I’m all for increasing domestic oil production and building new refineries, but those measures won’t have a significant short term impact on the price we pay at the pump. […]