Blog

I've posted before about New Hampshire inching towards legalizing gay marriage, and the drive to do so within the legislature there. I have also noted, here and elsewhere, my strong preference for gay marriage being legalized via actual legislative action, instead of via court decisions, which (despite my view that constitutional equal protection clauses can give rise to viable claims that same-sex civil unions and/or gay marriage should be permitted) tend to stir up controversy rather than...

> More

So... Jon Huntsman, the Republican Governor of Utah, of whom I am a bit of a fan, is set to visit Michigan later this week in a trip that could, if one were cynical (and of course I'm not cynical in the least), be seen as an initial testing of the waters for a 2012 presidential run. And it looks like some folks up there aren't happy about it:
A Michigan GOP organization canceled an appearance by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. this weekend, apparently because of his support for civil...

> More

I noticed this in a Glenn Thrush post earlier about liberal interest group Americans United for Change attacking Susan Collins, very likely one of President Obama's best potential Republican allies and someone who, in my opinion, it makes no sense for Democrats and groups friendly to them to be alienating right now. Tom McMahon, the Acting Executive Director of Americans United for Change apparently says, while blasting Collins for allegedly opposing $800 million-plus in panedemic preparation,...

> More

This is just so right-on, I can't do better than repost it in full. So here goes:
Fiscal Responsibility
The Washington Post reports:
President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, and he will order its members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official....Earlier this month, both chambers of Congress passed Obama's $3.5 trillion budget outline for 2010, which includes...

> More

I came across this earlier this morning, and am only just getting to post on it now.  Just read the WIRED item.
Isn't innovation great?
I'm personally angling for one of these, I'll be honest.  Though it has been suggested to me that with the bumper-to-bumper traffic one gets in the Washington, DC, area, a hybrid of some sort might be a better buy.
(Full disclosure: one of my clients is the Auto Alliance).

> More

Today, there have been (probably) thousands of tea parties taking place across the country, including the one right here in Washington, DC, which I, admittedly, did not personally attend. They've been the subject of some pretty hot emotions, too, and a lot of charges being flung about. From the left, there's been a sustained barrage of talking-point-compliant, on-message claims that tea parties aren't "grassroots-y" at all, and that they're "astroturf-y," and a top-down project of any or all...

> More

Longtime readers know I'm not a taxes girl. I'm a spending girl. As in, if I'm asked to pick which irks me more, on balance, high spending or high taxes, I'll say high spending a good 8 times out of 10.
Nonetheless, I consider this noteworthy:
A new Gallup Poll finds 48% of Americans saying the amount of federal income taxes they pay is "about right," with 46% saying "too high" -- one of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956. Typically, a majority of...

> More

Oh dear Lord, I leave my blog and politics alone for a few days, and what should happen but a conspiracy theory crops up involving... the new First Dog. Yes, really:
Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said during the presidential campaign that they had promised their two girls a dog after the election.
The Obamas repeatedly said they wanted it to be a rescued dog such as one from a shelter. Their search was complicated by daughter Malia's allergies, which would rule out many of...

> More

Sweet:
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Connecticut U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd now trailing former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons and two other possible GOP challengers for the 2010 election.
[...]
The poll shows Simmons defeating Dodd by a 50 percent to 34 percent margin.
Oh yeah, Dodd's approval rating, per the same poll, is now down to 33%.
I have to wonder if/when top Dems are going to begin trying to convince Dodd to just go. Clearly, the good...

> More

Readers of this blog will know that I've never been 100% sold on the idea that President Obama is the answer to collective US prayers to have our image overseas vastly improved. But today, he stepped in it in a way that makes his diplomatic screw ups feel just a tad more personal for me. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog:
The goods news out of London is that Barack Obama has reaffirmed America’s “special relationship” with the U.K. The bad...

> More