Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Posts
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Dick Morris is right twice a day, and this could be one of those times: If I were a Hill Democrat, I'd be very worried about this possible line of attack. ... It's a proven killer, and Obaman Dems, with all their talk of bending cost curves and denying treatments and reducing Medicare spending by 30%, have rendered themselves wide open to it. I'm amazed the GOPs haven't used it already. ... True, they'd have to embrace the popular big government Medicare program, violating conservative tenets. Are they really that principled? Or are they just saving it for September, 2010? ... 5:14 P.M.
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The network of community colleges is a powerful lobby. Solid citizen advocates in every district. They just got $12 billion from Obama. But do they do much good? Frederick Hess sees "some terrific institutions but [also] broad pockets of mediocrity." (I was actually expecting a more sweeping indictment.) That leaves the usual Obama question: How much reform will accompany the large outlay of taxpayer funds? The auto bailout may have set a pattern, and it's not a promising one. ... Update: Here are some numbing details. I suppose "challenge grants" can produce reforms. But vouchers-where the consumers of education could decide where to go, potentially threatening mediocre schools with defunding, whether or not they have good lobbyists--seem more effective. ... 5:11 P.M.
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David Brooks may spend until the end of his days being asked which Republican senator he's referring to in his recent MSNBC confession:
I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here....
He'll be asked at every dinner party he attends for the forseeable future. He'll be asked by his dentist, when he's in the chair. He'll be asked by his editors. I urge Brooks to seek the counsel of Bob Woodward, who managed to keep an even more sought-after name secret for decades. But there is a smaller universe of suspects with this one. It might be hopeless.
P.S.: I know I have my favorite. ... As a TPM reader notes, it would have to be someone Brooks really didn't want to piss off. ... 1:49 A.M.
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A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Bob Wright about his Evolution of God for KCRW, my local NPR supplier. They're running it today--Tuesday--at 2:30 West Coast time. Says here it's "live stream/on demand/podcast." Voices were raised. They wanted contentious. ... Update: Less contentious than I remembered! Better to bill it as "thoughtful." That's the ticket. Thoughtful. ... I also think some of the things Bob says toward the end about the tolerant history of Islam might provoke some blowback from the right. ... 1:48 A.M.
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Jeffrey Toobin said something that's not true? I'm shocked shocked ... [via Olson] ... Update: Olson cites more evidence against Toobin's crowd-pleasing oversimplification. ... 1:47 A.M.
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Mr. LUTZ: [W]here we really messed it up and took our eye off the ball in terms of product was in '70s, '80s and early '90s. And I think we've - in the last five or six years - we've had a radical transformation in the way we approach the product and our goals for products and look at the awards we've gotten. We got car of the year.
SIEGEL: But when you take your eye off the ball for more than 20 years...
Mr. LUTZ: Yeah, well, that was bad. ...
Update: It's also pathetic that Lutz cites the Motor Trend Car of the Year contest. If you follow cars, you know that this is not a respected award. It has a reputation for ...well, see TTAC's cynical flow chart. Over the years it has been won by some mediocre cars (1995 Chrysler Cirrus?), some awful cars (1971 Chevy Vega,1983 Renault Alliance), some loser cars (2002 Ford Thunderbird) and lots of cars Bob Lutz wouldn't be caught dead in (1997 Chevrolet Malibu) including more than ten from what Lutz labels as GM's lost decades. ... [Thanks to Reader D] 1:45 A.M.
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