The Not (yet) Ready for Primetime Player

Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, the nation's youngest governor, delivered the GOP's response to President Obama's speech to Congress. Over the past few weeks Jindal has emerged as his party's newest, and perhaps brightest, star.  He also showed a willingess to lead with attempts to decline certain portions of the new economic stimulus package.

The media has picked up his scent and the Q&A at the recent governors' meeting in DC looked more like a Jindal press conference.

Many threw around his name last year as a possible VP nominee, but he wisely (or perhaps luckily) stayed off the ticket. At 36 he was just too young to be palatable. During tonight's speech, Jindal showed potential but is still too wooden for my taste. That will improve though, and we'll be hearing a lot more about Bobby Jindal in the years ahead.

(By the way, this is the first post to get the 2012 tag)

The Wrestler + Uncle Sam = "The Uncler"

This is an amazing parody video from FunnyOrDie.com of the award winning pic The Wrestler. In these economic times, Uncle Sam himself stars as the beaten down lead character, Alissa Milano does a dead on Marisa Tomei as Lady Liberty, and Uncle Sam's daughter portrays the middle class.

This is awesome:

The Uncler w/ Uncle Sam and Alyssa Milano from Alyssa Milano

Here's the original as a reference:

Obstruction Junction

A version of the stimulus bill will pass in the Senate later today, it will then be sent to conference for a compromise with the House version. A preliminary vote had 61 Senators in favor, which includes the support of just three Republicans.

So, out of 219 Republicans on the Hill only three support a path to recovery endorsed by economists of all ideological stripes and the staunchly pro- business US Chamber of Commerce.

When Rush Limbaugh made waves with his "I want Obama to fail" boasts last month, I rolled my eyes and lamented the attention he received. But now, it seems that dangerous sentiment is something of the official position of the Republican party.

Republicans are in the midst of a kind of identity crisis, left to wonder how their "permanent majority" became so thoroughly dismantled. Apparently, many see the rising deficits and increased spending of the Bush years as he party's main problem.

Now, they've found ideological purity at a time when rapid spending of this type is exactly what our country needs.

Alas, this is not a genuine disagreement, but an attempt at sabotage through disingenious allegations of "socialism" and "partisanship" to score political points. This sort of gamesmanship is not new, but it's unfotunate to see it at such a crucial time for our country's near and long- term future.

Oh, and, lest you think Republicans are just purely obstructionist, their alternative? More tax breaks, beyond the $400+ bn guaranteed in the current versions (though that is mostly middle- class relief), and a battle to keep the president from instituting temporary CEO pay caps. Leave our infrastructure to crumble; do not create jobs directly; keep our buildings and schools and medical records inefficient and out of date.

But go and cut income taxes again, cause that worked out so well the last time.

Thank you, George W. Bush

On Feb. 7 I'm going with a friend to see Will Ferrell's one man Broadway show, You're Welcome America, where he plays our 43rd president.

George W. Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 2001. I was 18 years old, and politically aware and interested but not ideologically developed. The vote I cast for Al Gore remains my proudest. Before Bush took the oath of office, I had a conversation with my high school girlfriend's father. He'd voted for Bush, and I told him that after Bush was through the country would be worse off economically and socially. He disagreed.

On this, the last night of the Bush presidency, I want to take a look back at his time in office.

9/11

Just in case the above anecdote makes me seem like a know it all, indulge me one more. After 9/11, my friend and I were sitting in his dorm room watching ex- presidents and dignitaries file into the National Cathedral for a mass marking the tragic event. Gore was on screen and I remarked, "Man, I voted for him, but I'm really glad that he's not president right now. We need Bush in there." He agreed.

Bush's bravado and cowboy style comforted a nation that had its sense of invincibility rocked. He was a man who would punish those responsible and restore order to our world. Check out this SNL clip, where Ferrell plays the president just after 9/11. The cheers and hoots are remarkable and almost startling.



We craved this kind of call- out, we wanted revenge. Seven years later, this clip is more sad than funny. If you'd told the members of SNL's studio audience that night that bin Laden would be on the run and releasing tapes in 2009 I don't think they'd have believed you. I certainly wouldn't have.

But Bush was his best in those early days, even if he didn't actually accomplish anything. I'd argue the two best moments of his presidency came in late 2001:

Here, Bush is confident and well spoken, even eloquent. He's not giving prepared remarks, but reacting to the emotion of the moment and words of workers at Ground Zero.



I don't like George W. Bush, and I hate the New York Yankees. But this was pretty cool--



The Aftermath

Bush executed the War on Terror in a reckless way that was often politically motivated. The Senate's vote for use of force against Iraq was held right before the '02 midterms, which turned it into a political issue.

Dick Cheney executed his "unitary executive" theory, which gave the president new power at the expense of civil liberties and international law. Neo- Cons executed their Iraq- as- Petri dish experiment for American hegemony in the 21st century unfettered, at the expense of American servicemen and women, uncounted civilians and America's alliances.

And the president wasn't curious enough or interested enough or competent enough to stop them.

Iraq

The Iraq War was, as John Kerry famously put it, the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. But with improved security in the country it has become Bush's best chance at lasting achievement, and the only thing that could rescue his name from historians' bottom tier of presidents, where he now seems destined to be remembered. A stable democracy in the heart of the Middle East, and the dismantling of an abhorrent dictator is a potential game changer for our world.

But it was sold under false pretenses and done on the cheap. And when it wasn't working, Bush didn't react. The failures in Iraq can fill books. And so it can never be a source of pride for Bush. But it does have potential.

The Economy

For much of Bush's eight years in office, before the economy collapsed in on itself, the country seemed to be doing quite well economically. Unemployment was stable near historic lows, the stock market routinely broke records, and home ownership was at its highest level ever. However, polls routinely showed that Americans didn't feel good about the economy. People didn't feel good about it because it wasn't working for them. Inequality skyrocketed during the Bush years, to levels that surpassed even the "Roarin' 20s."

Through tax cuts and loop holes corporate earnings and income for the wealthiest individuals were unprecedented. Yet the benefits failed to trickle down to the rest of us. And when inflated housing numbers popped they brought the DOW down too, and Bush's signature economic accomplishments were undone while he still lived in the White House.

The Administration

In Paul Krugman's 2007 book The Conscience of a Liberal the economist distinguishes the Republican party of Eisenhower, Nixon and Bush 41 from that of George W. Bush. Bush 43 emanated from what Krugman calls"movement conservatism," and one of its main tenets is patronage based on loyalty rather than expertise.

That became evident as figures drifted from the administration to companies they were supposed to be regulating and back. It was clear after the utter incompetence of horse breeder turned FEMA director, Michael Brown who still enjoyed George Bush's loyalty even as people suffered through the federal government's incompetence.



Conclusion

Bush's presidency might be best understood through the lens of what's known as the Peter Principle. It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain.

George Bush rose to a level for which he was simply incompetent.

However, his presidency is not so much a personal failure, I think, as it is a failure of ideology and a corrupt politics. George Bush's disposition and personal character and story made him somewhat of a blank canvas on which movement conservatives could project their vision of government. For eight years we endured that vision.

Now, thanks to that experience, eroding racism and a shift in demographics movement conservatives have turned the Republican party into a mostly regional force. When the party returns to national prominence, we can expect it to look very different.

So perhaps Bush's legacy is that he made today possible. He helped elect the most progressive government since the 1930s. And I firmly believe our country will be better off for it. What's more, he put the country in a place where it was finally ready move past, not so much its racial divisions, but the cultural roils that defined the baby boom generation. Now that our first post- Boomer is in the White House we can close the book on George W. Bush's presidency and that tumultuous age.

So, thank you, George W. Bush.

PR Firms have been Busy- Pic of the Day 12/4

CEOs of the Big 3 automakers are back in DC to ask for $34bn in emergency aid. This time they have specifics on how they'd spend the money, and, apparently, a new PR firm.

Last time, they all took private jets. Now, they're driving these beautiful and economical hybrids-- available at your local dealer, come in now for 0% MSRP.

Here's the full article.

Will Gets Pwn'd

From ABC's This Week via the Huffington Post:

On ABC's This Week, conservative pundit George Will took up the case against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, arguing that it sent confusing signals to capitalists (who apparently might otherwise have pursued lucrative deals in the 1930s market place) and turned a depression into the Great Depression.

Thankfully, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman was around to remind Will of some history -- that the economy improved after the New Deal, and that it was FDR's attempt to balance the budget in 1937 (a move favored now by many conservatives) that then cut into that progress.

A Cold Winter Ahead, my father said

The high price of energy has put a tight squeeze on the middle class. With rampant speculation manipulating the oil market, and banks extremely leery of such a volatile industry (thanks, mortgage crisis) many small heating oil companies in New England could go under this winter. Not only would that decimate a major part of New England's economy, but it would leave customers, quite literally, out in the cold.

My father, Jim Meehan, owns two companies, and is president of the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association (a group of oil dealers). The CBS Evening News recently talked with him and others about a possibly tough winter ahead.

He's right... just ask my uncle at the armored humvee plant

Someone sent me this today, but it's a few months old.

The president flexes muscles on the economy, the most important issue to Americans, and assuages fear that spending trillions in Iraq set us back at home:



The fact is the war is great for jobs, just ask Exxon/Mobil, Blackwater and Sunni insurgents.

A Brief Forecast of 2009's Job Market

Above is a funny take on what we all can expect next year when looking for work, it's about a minute long and is good for a laugh.

Now, It's Personal

CNN reports that the falling dollar is jacking up the price of baked goods, even pizza. Mariella Pizza in Midtown Manhattan has had to continually raise its prices as the price for a 50 lbs. bag of flour has gone from $16 to $37 in just under a month.

"Over here people come to buy pizza, working people. How much [am] I going to raise the pizza now?" asks Joe Vicari. "Somebody come in here for two slices, and I take $5. I feel very, very bad for the person."

Wheat is skyrocketing as well, from the article: "At the Chicago Board of Trade a bushel, 60-pounds of wheat, now trades for more than $1100, more than two-and-1/2 times what it was just a year ago."

In addition to inflation caused by the sinking dollar, investment in ethanol (leading to more corn and less wheat produced) also has caused the up-swing, as have unusual weather conditions in the US, Europe and Australia.

Merchants in the article note that the cost is going to have to be passed along to the consumer. So add that to gasoline as another climbing cost that's pinching consumers.

Tales from a Struggling Economy

Money.com has an interesting feature today profiling the lives of 10 average American families, and how they have been affected by the faltering economy.

Here is Theresa Grof's story:

I am facing my college loans and my low-wage job and the fact that I will not be able to send my own daughter to college.

All I want is full-time work that actually pays the bills. My family hasn't been on a vacation in three years. We don't go to the movies or even rent movies. I went to college and did the right thing and here I am in my 30s contemplating reenlisting in the military for money.

Something needs to be done in the country. My daughter said to me the other day, "Why bother going to college Mom? You have a great degree, from a great college and it means nothing. I think I might move out of the country."

And here's an account from Billie Romero, a 32 year old nurse from LaFayette, LA:

I work as a nurse. My husband is a truck driver/musician. We have two kids we are TRYING to keep in private school. [Like] most working couples, we want the best education for our children, because not just "the rich" deserve private school.

We want to be able to buy a home AND pay the bills. How do you do that when the price of everything is rising except your pay? What do you do?

We don't own a house. We are about to lose our vehicle. Financial strain is hard on a marriage and we wonder why the divorce rate is on the rise. I know mine is strained and 98% of that strain has to do with money (lack of).

You know what we need to fix this? Tax cuts for the rich.