Hackonomics in action

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Sunday February 08, 2009 · 10:41 AM PST

2009/02/08 · 10:41

(next in the ongoing series of cross-posts from Noahpinion)

Larry Kudlow is one of America's premier "hackonomists" - a bunch of pseudo-economists who blather on and on authoriatively as if they know something about the subject, but actually are just Republican political tubthumpers (other prominent examples include Kevin Hassett, Donald Luskin, and Megan McArdle). These are far, far worse even than politically biased academic economists like Ed Prescott. They squawk endlessly on CNBC and in the Wall Street Journal, purporting to explain every stock market zig and zag as the success of Republican policy and the foolishness of Democratic policy. Brad DeLong has repeatedly awared the "Stupidest Peson Alive (TM) Award" to each of them (except McArdle, who for some reason gets off lightly), but they just keep coming.

(more after the jump)

jollygreen

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Friday January 30, 2009 · 5:57 PM PST

2009/01/30 · 17:57

(for a while, I'm going to be cross-posting Noah's rants. He's a great friend, budding economist and brilliant writer, not to mention explainer-of-economics-to-dumb-polisci-majors, and he deserves more traffic than he gets. He'd do it himself, but he's too lazy or something.)

Commenter "l" (it's a lower-case "L") notes that I've become more vitriolic toward the Republican party. This is a good point, and quite right. Although I've always been very liberal on most issues, I've also always tried to be sympathetic to conservative ides and viewpoints and voters, since it is my fundamental belief that half of America (give or take) can't be evil, or stupid, or totally fooled. We elected Reagan; we elected Gingrich; and we probably elected Bush at least once. Conservatism therefore can't all be horsedung, and I've always tried to find what's valuable and good in it.

So why all the Republican-bashing now, you ask?

jollygreen

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Thursday January 29, 2009 · 11:46 AM PST

2009/01/29 · 11:46

(cross-posted with permission from Noahpinion)

In a review of a new book about Texas oil barons, the Economist glibly notes:

On a scale not always appreciated, the Texas oil billionaires nurtured the growth of America’s radical right, financing Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt, a string of extremist newsletters (devoted to attacking such hidden dangers as the Jewish Gestapo) and even setting up an openly white-supremacist third political party, the Texas Regulars. More recently, the "Texanisation" of the Republican Party, most famously in the shape of Tom DeLay, former House majority leader, and the just-departed 43rd president, has driven the party to become more religious and outspokenly patriotic.

(more after the jump)

jollygreen

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Tuesday September 23, 2008 · 2:25 PM PDT

2008/09/23 · 14:25

This will be a quickie. Today, while watching our local ABC affiliate in Bryan, Texas, and I saw not one but TWO McCain ads running. Seeing Obama ads on cable channels like MSNBC is nothing new any more, but these were aired on a local broadcast station.

Around here, we don't usually get to see campaign spots; the Obama ads on cable were big news in our house since normally the only time we see them is on YouTube or sites like this.

Why is McCain running ads in the Brazos Valley? Sure, Bryan/College Station has a lot of Obama supporters, but he's surely in no danger of losing the state.

Or is he?

I'm probably jumping the gun here. Maybe he's just airing a few ads in the general Houston area for the hell of it. Anybody want to set me straight?

Edit: wow, that's already more comments than I've ever had. To answer a couple recurring questions: one, I can't say for certain that it wasn't a national spot. Two, it was a new ad, about the economic crisis: the memorable line was "Obama only offers talk and taxes".

Medical Bills; a little black humor

jollygreen

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Tuesday July 29, 2008 · 8:46 AM PDT

2008/07/29 · 08:46

Exactly one month ago, my wife Bradie suffered a miscarriage after 22 weeks of pregnancy. He was going to be our first child, our son, and he already had a name- mine (it's a tradition in my family, I'm the 4th of my name).

We don't know why or how it happened, but it did, and was the most devastating thing that ever happened to us. Then, a week later, she developed a life-threatening complication, an infection, and had to return to the hospital for a surgical procedure.

Despite this awful tragedy, the last few weeks have reminded us how much we love and cherish each other, and as we mourn and recover together I am moved to consider myself lucky despite everything that I'm married to such a wonderful woman.

That's all I'm going to say about that. I dearly love this community, but I'm not going to use this space to share my personal pain.

Instead, our story is simply background for the point I'd like to make. I thought I'd share with you something a little more apropos to the site: we just received our bill from the hospital.

It is truly a shining example of the outrageous state of our health care system. After the flip, I'll share with you some of the most egregious (and bleakly hilarious) points:

jollygreen

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Wednesday December 05, 2007 · 11:10 PM PST

2007/12/05 · 23:10

Apple, cherry, pumpkin. My favorite, however, is pecan.

I'm so tired of the diaries trying to convince me of how much Hillary sucks, or how Edwards or Obama will save the Democratic Party, usher in a new Golden Age, whatever. They're all Democrats. I'd take the worst one of them (Hi, Dennis!) over the best Republican... (McCain? No... uh... Arlen Specter? Is he running?)

jollygreen

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Monday August 20, 2007 · 1:15 PM PDT

2007/08/20 · 13:15

Last week I published a diary about a local dustup between local police and the Victoria County District Attorney, Steve Tyler. I have since received several comments and emails about the story, or rather my posting of the story on a national blog like DKos, that have left me wondering if maybe I was hasty in my conclusions, and my (admittedly rather breathless) opinion was reached prematurely.

jollygreen

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Monday August 13, 2007 · 2:15 PM PDT

2007/08/13 · 14:15

From the Victoria Advocate:

Victoria County (Texas) D.A. Steven Tyler is in hot water with the police. Why?

In the first seven months of his first term as DA, Tyler has declined 36 percent of all adult criminal cases presented to him by the police department and about 50 percent of juvenile cases, Police Chief Bruce Ure said.

Turns out he doesn't much like prosecuting cases without that thing, what's it called... evidence.

jollygreen

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Wednesday May 30, 2007 · 5:32 AM PDT

2007/05/30 · 05:32

cross-posted at mechavomit's revenge

The recent suicides of Shinzo Abe's minister of agriculture and the the head of an administrative company over a bid-rigging scandal deserves a little more attention in the media on our side of the pond. In our political culture where organized bribery is essentially legal, and the public shrugs off billions in no-bid contracts to industrial megacorporations like Halliburton, it's almost shocking that somewhere in the world honor and integrity is taken so seriously that Mr. Matsuoka was driven to kill himself rather than suffer the public shame of facing charges of corruption. In a somewhat bizarre mirror to American politics, Prime Minister Abe had stubbornly stuck by Mr. Matsuoka, his nominee to the post, despite damaging allegations of wrongdoing.

Poll

29 votes Show Results

What is an appropriate fate for a corrupt politician?

29 votes Vote Now!

What is an appropriate fate for a corrupt politician?

suicide

3 votes

death sentence

5 votes

jail sentence

19 votes

I stand by my appointees. They're doing a heckuva job!

1 vote

pie

1 vote

Rainbow Bombers and Tree-hadists

jollygreen

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Tuesday May 29, 2007 · 9:11 AM PDT

2007/05/29 · 09:11

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."- Harry S. Truman 8/8/1950

cross-posted at mechavomit's revenge

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has
pulled its terror watch website, after people noticed they were including dangerous jihadist organizations like Equality Alabama.

More after the flip.

jollygreen

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Thursday May 03, 2007 · 8:34 AM PDT

2007/05/03 · 08:34

In the last three days, we've held two rallies to end the war here in College Station, Texas (home of the George H.W. Bush Presidential library). One had been planned for weeks, but the day before a huge stormfront moved in and thrashed us with rain and lightning. The second, today, was almost an impromptu event- several of us who also happen to be MoveOn members met for the veto protest, and plenty of passerby joined in. Pictures below the fold.

jollygreen

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Thursday April 19, 2007 · 12:53 PM PDT

2007/04/19 · 12:53

Yesterday, the House and Senate Judiciary committees received an anonymous letter from employees of the DoJ, pointing yet more fingers at AG Gonzales' ongoing attempts to turn the Department of Justice into another arm of the Republican Party. This one has to do with the Summer Law Internship Program, where promising young law students come to serve their country by working at the DoJ. Slots are limited and competition is fierce, but it's gotten a bit more so under the Abu Gonzales regime.

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Hackonomics in action

Vitriol

Texas is the key

McCain ad in Central Texas? (Updated)

Medical Bills; a little black humor

I like pie.

Victoria County D.A.- preliminary follow up

Evidence? We don't need no steenking evidence...

Accountability, Old World Style

Rainbow Bombers and Tree-hadists

Two rallies in the heart of Bush country

Political Screenings for Interns at DOJ?