Volume 3 Issue 1
February 2, 2004
Predictions, Budgets, and Investigations (oh my!)
Junior Tuesday approaches, Bill Gates wants to tax e-mail, and if Punxsutawney Phil can predict the seasons, can he predict the Democratic Nominee?
Today there was an interesting piece in the Washington Post (it's below in the insanity), about an interesting hostage and potential fatality from the Bush budget fiasco - the new Highway bill, which would provide federal help to states and help repair and improve the nation's decaying infrastructure. Of all the things that the federal government does, this could probably be called one of the most important, at least as far as domestic programs go. States especially need this help now as they face fiscal crisises of their own and are unable to fully fund highway repairs.
Many Conservative Republicans are balking at passing another huge spending bill at the same time that the deficit has ballooned to record levels. Having just gotten burned by the escalating cost of Bush's Medicare plan, these Members of Congress are desperate to show the public they can stop the spending somewhere, and the typically pork-laden highway bill seems like a good place to start making a stand.
Except it's not. True, transportation bills are more filled with pork than most bills, but they also have most immediate effect on local communities. Jobs are created in the construction of new highways and transit projects, and traffic, perhaps one of the biggest "silent issues" creeping up on Americans, is eased as well. More importantly, necessary repairs can be made to many highways, bridges, and tunnels that have been decaying as a result of the government's recent ignoring of infrastructure concerns.
The Republicans in Congress do have a point though, the deficits have gotten too big, and the money is flowing out of Congress like never before. But they have only themselves to blame. Never before during a period of national crisis like the Administration says we face in the War on Terror has a government cut it's revenue sources. In fact, it usually raises them to help pay for the conflict. Instead, the rising costs of defense and Bush's boondoggle in Iraq have put even more pressure on a budget already made tighter by the fiscal ineptitude of the Bush administration. If the Republicans in Congress are serious about fiscal responsibility, then they should rescind the Bush tax cuts now, restoring some fiscal sanity to government, before cutting funds from projects that America needs more now than ever.
Two things were clear from yesterday's Super Bowl. First, it was another in a series of excellent match-ups in recent years, with another last-minute victory. Second, CBS is the worst network ever to telecast football, and should never be allowed to bid on an NFL contract again. The play-by-play was boring and annoying. I've never been a Gumbel fan, and Phil Simms is just not cut out for broadcast work. Then there was the crappy halftime show, even featuring a bit of controversy that CBS now denies, but was no doubt planned at the top levels of the network. It's shame that such a great game, and such a great effort by the Houston hosts (who by all accounts put on quite a week-long show) was ruined by the broadcasters. I don't know who the game reverts to next year under the contract, but I hope it's FOX or ABC or even those Straight Eye people on Bravo...hell, having the Democratic candidates do the game would have been better.
Finally, the 4th Quarter campaign finance info is now all in, it's posted on the scorecard on the website. Of course, a lot has changed in the last month...Dean, who was swimming in money has now run through much of it, and all campaigns are having cash flow issues, except perhaps Kerry's...and upon closer inspection of his 4th Quarter FEC report, we can see why...he only gave himself half of the $6 million mortgage on his house last quarter, so he probably was saving the rest for when he needed it in Iowa and New Hampshire.
It's Groundhog Day! As if it was a surprise to anyone, the rat saw his shadow today, so we get 6 more weeks of winter -
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/02/02/groundhog.day.ap/ index.html
It's the Tax Cuts, Stupid: So the GOP is amazed that when the cut taxes, revenue falls and they have deficits!? Who would have thunk it...so what to do? That's right, cut programs that help repair the nation's aging infrastructure! Maybe they'll cut Homeland Security and the Army next!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3966-2004Feb1.html
Look Who's Running for President - Kash King Kerry? John Kerry is now running a campaign against the "special interests" in Washington...but he's raised more money from lobbyists than anyone else -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64727-2004Jan30?language=printer
Are the other members of the Magnificent Seven making a mistake by not attacking Kerry and giving him a free pass?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-outlook2feb02,1,3161021.column?coll=la-headlines-nation
Bob Novak says that while normally Kerry would be a dream candidate for the GOP, Bush's credibility gap makes Kerry a tough opponent -
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20040202.sh tml
Look Who's Running for President 2 - Retooled Dean: Dean's new campaign manager Roy Neel unveiled the campaign's new strategy last week...it's an interesting one, and it's one not likely to work either -
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/003471.html
Dean said he would stay in the race indefinitely, or at least until someone else clinches the nomination -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4098-2004Feb1?language=printer
Dean was himself spending money like a drunken sailor for much of the last year -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/politics/campaign/02DONA.h tml
Look Who's Running for President 3 - Johnny Dangerous Edwards: Edwards had a pen-knife taken from his luggage in New Mexico, and his press entourage were given a through search for no apparent reason, making Edwards late for the rest of the day. Perhaps the Bush administration is trying to take him out of the running? Yeah, like the TSA would even be able to handle an order like that.
http://www.adn.com/24hour/weird/story/1136006p-7907106c.html
Edwards' occupation as a trial lawyer shows why he's good as a politician. Edwards only lost once or twice in his entire career, and the mere threat of him taking a case was enough to get insurance companies to settle -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4099-2004Feb1?language=printer
February 3 - Arizona: Kerry has a big lead here, according to an Arizona Republic poll -
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0202poll02.html
But Arizona is one of a few states that allows early voting, and by the time the polls open tomorrow, as many as half of the votes may already have been cast. Will this help Dean, who commanded a lead there before his Iowa meltdown?
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0202dems-earlyvoting.html
February 3 - South Carolina: It's make or break for Edwards here, and he has a good shot of pulling it out -
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-carolina2feb02,1,7896842.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
The South is a unique place to campaign still -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4007-2004Feb1?language=printer
February 3 - New Mexico: Kerry crushes Dean here, though Dean will probably win some delegates -
http://www.abqjournal.com/elex/140220elex02-02-04.htm
Other Polls for 2/3: Clark has a slight lead in Oklahoma, and Kerry a commanding one in Delaware, according to Survey USA -
http://surveyusa.com/currentelectionpolls.html
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
Good God, is that a Groundhog?
Where Was George? DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe yesterday accused President Bush of being AWOL from the Alabama National Guard in the 1970's, a controversial charge that has been making a comeback lately -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/politics/campaign/02CAMP.h tml?pagewanted=all&position=
What WMD's? Bush will finally appoint a commission to investigate intelligence failures in the lead up to war...but rumor has it Cheney may head the commission...and considering he's accused of "sexing up" the intelligence, that may not be such a good idea -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/international/middleeast/0 2WEAP.html?pagewanted=all&position=
The report will not be due until after the elections however, potentially helping Bush -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3980-2004Feb1.html
Bush's Big Bloated Budget: Bush today submitted a $2.4 trillion budget, including a half-trillion deficit. Gotta love that fiscal responsibility -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5130-2004Feb2.html?nav=hptop_tb
The Super Bowl: Tom Shales didn't like the telecast either -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4556-2004Feb2.html?nav=hptop_tb
And though CBS and MTV (both owned by Viacom) now say the nipple thing was a mistake...MTV for hours was boasting about it being planned on its website -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4670-2004Feb2?language=printer
Evil Returns: Bill Gates is back, and now he wants you to pay for e-mail -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/technology/02spam.html?hp= &pagewanted=all&position=
End of the Line: US Airways looks destined to go out of business or radically downsize, as yet another plan for saving the airline has failed -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4107-2004Feb1.html
All Aboard! The new Cunard liner Queen Mary 2 has been sailing for about a month now. An account of her maiden voyage...warts and all -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/travel/01QM2.html?pagewant ed=all&position=
