Monday, February 14, 2005
Another Bush disaster looming: his "landmine" federal budget. The Washington Post has the bad news about how the cost of Bush's proposed budget -- already harming the poor and favoring the wealthy -- could explode into $700 billion dollar annual deficit in a decade.After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon (washingtonpost.com)
Alert for political junkies! The Daou report, which is now available on the new free Salon (but viewing an ad is part of the deal), offers a pithy snapshot of the best of each day's blogs across the political spectrum. Beside offering links to mainstream media, you can also burrow into the dark underground of American politics, with one blog, for instance, exploring the alleged history (with pictures) of the notorious "Jeff Gannon" as a male prostitute; he was the bogus conservative reporter who lobbed softball questions to the president and was a regular at White House press conferences. My website provides the Daou report as part of my expanding network of political websites. Happy reading! (Note: It's still a hassle to access it directly through the Salon website, unfortunately, so try typing in http://daoureport.salon.com/default.aspx in your web browser or going through my link). See THE DAOU REPORT .
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Krugman's tax fix for Social Security: Is it enough? The Democrats' answer, so far, on Social Security is to roll back the permanent tax cuts for the upper tier -- and block privatization accounts. It all makes good sense, but since the Republicans control both houses of Congress, there doesn't seem to be a groundswell for ending tax cuts, even if Bush's private accounts proposal seems to be in deep trouble. But where are alternative proposals, such as means-testing or other structural reforms, to salvage Social Security in the long run? The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Spearing the Beast
Friday, February 04, 2005
The Senate's choice: torture or the rule of law. The Senate chose torture. The Democrats spoke out against Gonzales, and the most powerful critique came from Ted Kennedy, but it all wasn't enough to overcome the Republicans' ideological support of Alberto Gonzales, the president's legal toady. KENNEDY URGES SENATE TO DENY GONZALES NOMINATION OVER TORTURE POLICIES
Thursday, February 03, 2005
What happened to means-testing? The Dems weak response to Bush's Social Security scheme. Yes, Bush's plan could be an economic disaster for senior citizens now and in the future, with major benefit cuts in the years ahead and a potential market downturn likely for those with "personal accounts." As Paul Krugman points out, the Bush plan is a risky gamble. But what's the Democratic alternative to a troubled Social Security system, even if it's not in the immediate crisis Bush portrayed? They don't have one, even though means-testing Social Security so that the wealthiest Americans don't get Social Security checks each month is one reasonable solution that the Democrats fear offering. There's too little fresh thinking coming from the not-ready-for-prime-time Democratic spokespeople, as shown by the ineffective, stilted rebuttal after the President's State of the Union snow job. CBS News Dems: Bush Lacks 'Clear Plan' February 3, 2005�09:00:01
