Maybe Rick Perry Would Have Been Better Off Losing the Election

The Texas miracle may not be a miracle after all. It looks like we have an uphill battle. It will be us ordinary folks, especially the very young and the very old, that pay for Perry's bad stewardship.

How Bad Can It Get? Wait and See.

The Republicans have introduced a bill to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act. The new bill's title is a lie: "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." The non-partisan CBO has provided the (required) analysis of the bill. The Republican's push to repeal the AHCA shows at least two things. First they are not serious about reducing the deficit, given that repeal would add billions to the budget shortfall. Second, they don't care a whit about ordinary Americans, 32 million of which would be left uninsured under repeal as compared to the AHCA. Republican leadership has exempted the bill from their requirement that all legislation that increases the deficit be offset by cuts elsewhere. Apparently lying has become a reflex for Congressional Republicans.

Education

XKCD

Republicans vs. Us

Unless you make over a million dollars a year, the Republicans are not your friends. If you voted Republican in the last election, just wait and see what they have in store for you.

And Again I Say: I'm Shocked, Shocked!

Republicans apparently can't help themselves. They profess to care about the deficit, going so far as to change House rules about passing legislation that increases the deficit. But when it comes to repealing the Affordable Care Act, which will decrease the deficit, they suspend the rules the other way. What a bunch of scumbags.

Women in Science

This makes my daughter's earning tenure at UT even more impressive. It's still tough for women to succeed in science.

Texas? Miracle?

I wondered when the national press was going to tip to this. Things are as bad fiscally in Texas as anywhere else--maybe worse on a per capita basis.

I'm Shocked, Shocked, I Tell You

On Republican deficit hawks.

What's in Store for 2011

I've been reading what the incoming Republican leadership has been saying about their plans for the next legislative session and I have to tell you that I'm scared spitless. Even if one agrees with their plan to repeal the Affordable Health Care legislation (and I don't), the rest of their plans are scary. After railing against the Democrats for increasing the deficit, they forced a budget busting tax cut for the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Now they want to change House rules so that increases in deficits caused by spending have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, but deficits caused by tax cuts don't have to be offset. This after stripping out budgetary pay-as-you-go rules during the Bush administration so they could finance the war in Iraq with a huge deficit. When it comes to the deficit, Republicans fail math. Why people want to delude themselves into thinking that we can cut taxes without cutting the core areas of the budget--Social Security, Medicare, defense--escapes me. The Republicans say they want to cut a trivial $100 billion from non core areas--the court system, public safety, health, education--after giving up a $800 billion tax cut. Please tell me how they think this will cut the deficit.

The inmates have definitely taken over the asylum.

Matt Yglesias on the Hypocrisy of Greg Mankiw

Greg Mankiw is widely regarded as the dean of conservative economists. He was chairman of George Bush's Council of Economic Advisors and is a professor of economics at Harvard. He appears in a position to speak with authority on economics from the Republican side. He recently wrote an editorial advising President Obama on how to deal with the Republicans on budget issues. However, a closer look at his own performance as chairman of the CEA shows that his own policy advice to George Bush (and the actions of Republicans when they were in control of the budget) are sharply at variance with the advice he has for the President. It's sad to see an economist of Mankiw's former stature fall into this state--a shill for the continuance of the bankrupt policies that got us where we are now.