Next on the Democrats' Senate worry list

FrumForum:

Former New York Governor George Pataki now holds a significant lead against potential Democratic rivals for the 2010 New York Senate seat according to recent polling, reports Steven Greenberg of the Siena Research Institute. Among potential voters, Pataki now holds a wide lead over current Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, at 51% to 38% .  This is in contrast to the results of a poll just over a month ago that had Gillibrand in the lead at 46% to 43%. Pataki holds an even larger lead over former Tennessee Representative Harold Ford, Jr., at 54% to 32%.

Well that's a shocker if it bears out, but it's one poll--take the requisite grains of salt.

Bankruptcy courts: ignore Chrysler bailout

Via NM:

[The NHL lawyer] barely got the word “Chrysler” out of his mouth before Judge Baum interrupted: “Let me say something about these two cases [the Chrysler and General Motors bankruptcies],” Judge Baum said during the Sept. 10 hearing, according to a transcript. “You know, those two cases were so unusual that I’m not sure how helpful the precedent of those two cases is to this court or any court. When the United States government comes in and says, ‘I’m going to buy’ what at one time was the biggest company in America… I mean, I had to get a little smirk when I thought of that poor pension manager from Indiana who was trying to fight that. It was kind of like the gentlemen in Tiananmen Square when the tank came rolling.”

Hope for vouchers?

NewMajority:

On July 31, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) - one of the moderates from Maine - co-sponsored the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) along with Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). The bill would reactivate the D.C. School Voucher program, which is in danger of being eliminated after the current crop of students graduate. All Republicans should follow Collins’ lead.

This is a program that is great for the students, their families, their neighborhoods, etc. Both parents and students are happier, and the students are a full third of a grade ahead of their D.C. public school counterparts in math after only three years, as well as ahead in reading. The program costs between one-fourth and half of the normal cost of publicly-funded education in D.C. (depending on whether you believe CATO’s numbers or the Heritage Foundation). In return, the nation receives better-educated students who will help create a larger tax base in the future while diminishing their own odds of delinquency.

This program, however, was killed by teacher’s unions, who support Democratic candidates for congressional office and our current president. These same elected officials often talk about the big money special interests hurting Americans through Washington… Officials such as President Obama, whose children go to private schools. Such a shame the same opportunity doesn’t apply to poor minorities.

In short, the program is wildly successful and popular. If we want to help future generations be safer, more economically successful and help lead this country in the 21st-century, we would be wise to follow Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman on this issue.

At the very least, we would be holding the Democrats responsible for their claims of attempted fiscal responsibility- saving between $7,500 and $20,000 per student for 1,700 students (plus future participants in the program) saves at least $12,750,000 for the taxpaying citizens of this country. And all it would take is a simple vote. Easiest $12.75 million ever saved in Washington.

In sum, voucherizing private education results in:

- Happier families
- Better education
- Lower costs

It's win-win on everything except supporting that favored Democratic constituency: public schoolteachers' unions.

The Obama Administration's 'evolving' position on Honduras

It's quite a mess. Or at least it would be if Honduras were an 'important' country. Bullet dodged?

Speech highlights

A passage like this is always welcome:

there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule - the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. To serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth.

For previous acknowledgments of godlessness, see Obama at the national prayer breakfast, the inauguration, and an excellent speech from before he was a candidate. Yes, I'm keeping score.

Andrew highlights two statements from the transcript. One of fact:

Understand - I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it - indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory - the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.

One of faith:

In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. Stand as a lighthouse.

But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It is the belief in things not seen. It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that His wisdom is greater than our own.

This doubt should not push us away from our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness, and service that moves hearts and minds

Andrew concludes:

I believe that these sentiments will resonate with all Catholics of good will and serious purpose. When we are called by God to oppose the evils of abortion or torture or terror, we need to remain civil and fair and attuned to the calm that comes from knowing that we fight the good fight...if we do not try to do better, in the passionate and righteous pursuit of peace and justice, we will advance neither one nor the other.

Here's what Obama said of abortion earlier in the speech:

That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions. So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”

Contrast with what recently appeared at NewMajority.com, a place supposedly trying to further the right's cause among moderates:

Why are so many Catholics so offended by Notre Dame’s honoring President Obama with a doctor of laws? It is not just abortion (though that matters). It is the threat that the Obama administration poses to Catholic institutions that heal the sick and teach the young. The age old question of how far Catholics must go in opposing evil approved of by the State is present here. Barack Obama threatens the conscience of Catholics, and the mission of the Catholic Church in America, more than any President before him. He threatens by legislation and court appointments, in fact, to be an American Henry VIII, destroying Catholic institutions,"

For more nonsense, I direct you to the ever-unhinged Gateway Pundit.

Link blag

George Will: The Obama administration's economic lawlessness.

NM: Flunking school for welfare.

Cato: Torture sucks. Don't do it.

NYT: Training the future police state.

TNR takes a peek at what health reform will look like.

NYT: How life began with RNA.

A creative solution for Social Security solvency.

Quote of the day II

...conservatives should abandon their silly effort to peg Democrats as socialists.

This is a strategy to repel, not attract, new voters. It is the conservative equivalent of the “Democratic wing of the Democratic Party” branding the Bush Administration fascist.

—NM's Henry Clay

Link blag

Frum at NewMajority: The stock market performs markedly worse when Congress is in session. He also notes that the Obama administration's reorganization of Chrysler is lawless.

The ratio of Dow/Gold is not a pretty picture.

FiveThirtyEight: Discussing social and economic conservatives, Huckabee fails logic 101.

Kossacks note abstinence proponents are freaking out.

ONTARIO - Asian teen strikes back at bully in self-defense, is charged with assault, rallies community.

Yglesias: Obama's don't ask don't tell hypocrisy.

Obsidian Wings: Europe succeeded because it population was controlled by fecal matter?

Link blag

Michelle Malkin is outraged — redundant, I know — at the Department of Homeland Security's assessment of the rightwing extremism that people like her rouse. Ordinary Will thinks it's wrong. Ambers thinks it's funny. Andrew notes hypocrisy. Greenwald concurs.

A Dish reader spends Easter with his conservative family. Yikes. Another evolves.

Vulnerable freshman Democrats are partnering with Republicans.

Gov. Paterson will introduce same-sex marriage legislation in New York.

NewMajority is unimpressed with Meghan McCain's argument for a gayer GOP.

YouTube is losing money to the tune of $1.65 million a day.

More Intelligent Life profiles Andrew Sullivan: Thinking. Out. Loud.

Megan: A world without bankruptcy is a terrible thing.

Ben Bernanke talks about the economy.

Xinhua: Somali pirates are blocked by dolphins...

The Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China's fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China's.

The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

Need another reason not to use Facebook?...

Researchers from Ohio State University find that those who enjoy Facebooking do less well in exams. Those who are on Facebook every day may do as much as one grade worse than those who don't.

Link blag

The Post: Short '06 Lebanon War Stokes Pentagon Debate...

A war that ended three years ago and involved not a single U.S. soldier has become the subject of an increasingly heated debate inside the Pentagon, one that could alter how the U.S. military fights in the future.

When Israel and Hezbollah battled for more than a month in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, the result was widely seen as a disaster for the Israeli military. Soon after the fighting ended, some military officers began to warn that the short, bloody and relatively conventional battle foreshadowed how future enemies of the United States might fight.

Drezner: 13 Unexpected Consequences of the Financial Crisis...

7. Skirts will get longer. Here’s a piece of Wall Street folk wisdom: There is a rough correlation between bull markets and bare knees. During boom times, skirts get shorter. In these bearish times, prepare for hemlines to head south. Somewhat in relation, we’ll see something else go north: the age and weight of Playboy centerfolds. Evolutionary biology encourages people to seek “more mature” mates during times of economic insecurity, argue Terry F. Pettijohn and Brian J. Jungeberg in one of the more interesting studies published recently in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. To support their claim, the researchers showed that during recessions, centerfolds get older and, well, rounder. Similar studies have confirmed an identical trend in movie comedies—male and female leads get older during recessions.

Unreligious Right: Another Strange Poll...

Sixty-five percent of conservative Republicans have an unfavorable view of Islam. I'm surprised it's not higher. But what about liberal Democrats? Sixty percent of them have a favorable view of Islam. Really, 60% have a positive view of Islam. Is it any wonder liberals are so clueless? What causes this favorable view? Simple ignorance? Living in a dream world? Blaming problems involving Islam on the U.S.?

FiveThirtyEight: Whigs, Federalists Strongly Differ on Support for Obama...

[..] measurements of the partisan split in support for the President, as Pew Research has done here (they found a record partisan split in Obama's approval ratings, with 88 percent of Democrats but just 27 percent of Republicans approving of Obama's performance) are not quite as straightforward as they might seem. This is because partisan identification is at least somewhat fluid. The Republicans, in particular, have lost quite a bit of support over the past several years; those persons who continue to identify as Republicans are a hardened -- and very conservative -- lot. Just 24 percent of voters identified as Republican when Pew conducted this survey in March, which is roughly as low as that total has ever gotten.

Radley reminds you that libertarian free market proponents are not corporate apologists:

The U.S. Chamber has released its rankings of “business-friendly” members of Congress. Next time someone accuses libertarians and other free market proponents of being corporate apologists, send them this Tim Carney analysis of the Chamber’s list. Ron Paul, for example, scored lower than 90 percent of the Democrats in the House. Pro-free market, anti-tax Republicans scored lower than left-liberal Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. When you look at the issues the Chamber considers pro-business, it pretty quickly demolishes the notion that free markets and big business have much of anything to do with one another.

Why did the housing crash ruin the financial system while the dot-com collapse did not? WSJ has a longish article by a 2002 Noble laureate.

NewMajority tells Wall Street Bankers how to be capitalists.

It's not often I get to say this, but The Weekly Standard's budget recommendations are better than both Obama's and the House GOP's. Apart from defense spending, of course, where they're as nuts as ever.

TMV rounds up opinions on Obama's European tour.

NY Gov. Paterson is toast, voters say 63-22 he does not deserve election to full term.

Farm subsidies won't be cut? Fraking bastards.

The next Alien vs. Predator?

Police in Detroit break up pillow fight. NYC has better luck.