How is he wrong? Obama has done a lot of those things that piss me off, Paul has opposed them, and I still think that Obama is a far better choice than Paul. Why is that so hard to understand?
Archives for 2012
Department of Predictions
From this morning’s Toledo Blade:
Investment from resurgent American automakers made big news in 2011, with General Motors and Chrysler announcing multiple large projects in Toledo and northwest Ohio that together total nearly $1 billion and should create or help preserve almost 3,400 jobs.
Promise for the future of manufacturing in northwest Ohio was one of the brights spots in a year that saw many changes to the business landscape in the region.
The big bucks in manufacturing are coming from Chrysler Group LLC. The automaker last year committed $500 million to its Toledo Assembly complex. That investment, which will go toward updating the line that ultimately will build Jeep’s new sport utility vehicle in 2013, will add a second shift to the plant, and lead to more than 1,100 jobs. Chrysler also said it planned to invest $72 million in its Toledo Machining Plant.
General Motors Co. announced plans for two investments totaling $343 million in its Toledo Transmission plant for upgrades and a new line for an upcoming eight-speed transmission. It also plans to pump $47 million into its Defiance Powertrain plant.
“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of capital investment in our traditional manufacturing sector around the automotive industry,” said Ford Weber, president and chief executive officer of the Lucas County Improvement Corporation.
In addition to the automakers and other large-scale manufacturers, Mr. Weber noted suppliers are investing in facilities here, and that’s likely to continue, especially with emphasis on just-in-time delivery.
Because it can’t be repeated often enough, here are a conservative and a libertarian boldly planning political strategy, in 2009:
“The pattern here is pretty clear,” House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday. “Every time the president makes a so-called tough decision, it’s the American middle class that gets hit the hardest.”
Obama defends his administration as a reluctant and stern savior of an industry that’s vital to the American economy.
Republicans see in GM a chance for their party to come out with a unified message — a confidence grounded in the conservative belief that government involvement in private industry always spells disaster. And GM’s long history of financial problems — even in more prosperous times — also makes Republicans see the company as a big albatross around Obama’s neck.
“This is somewhere in between Baghdad and fixing the flood in Louisiana,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said, comparing the GM decision to major stumbles by former President George W. Bush. Obama “has decided to take this over. He now owns it.”
I’ll just repeat this part, because it’s absolutely key to understanding the (alleged) Conservative Soul:
a confidence grounded in the conservative belief that government involvement in private industry always spells disaster
Not facts or numbers, not a basic working knowledge of the NW Ohio manufacturing scene or the US auto industry or a discussion of the relative merits of several possible extraordinary measures we might have taken after a massive implosion of the economy, but belief.
They may as well have told us they were praying for us, that we were “in their thoughts” during this “difficult time”.
Signing Statement
By request, here’s President Obama’s signing statement for the defense authorization bill he signed yesterday.
Surging Wave of Santorum
The new Des Moines Journal Register poll shows Rick Santorum surging into third place, tying up the votes of the evangelicals:
What makes Santorum’s growth spurt particularly striking is his last-second rise: He averaged 10 points after the first two nights of polling, but doubled that during the second two nights. Looking just at the final day of polling, he was just one point down from Romney’s 23 percent on Friday.
The Republican party in Iowa reminds me of a patient with a terminal disease (Romneyitis) desperately turning to alternative medacine. They’ve cycled through homeopathy (Bachmann), naturopathy (Cain), chelation (Perry) and aromatherapy (Paul). Now they’ve hit the final frontier–urotheraphy. I’m glad that I’ve never been so desperately ill that I’ve contemplated drinking my own piss, but I can imagine what it might feel like if I consider the level of desperation needed to vote for Rick Santorum.
Open Thread: Happy New Year
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Thanks to commentor Dance Around in Your Bones. Here’s to the hope that 2012 will be a better year than the one just departed… even for those of us whom 2011 blessed!
Where Did It Go?
I was just surprised with a late night phone call from a buddy who served with me in the 11th ACR in Germany in 90-91. We’ve been in contact before, the last time a year or so ago, and he is still as awesome a guy as ever. It’s just kind of crazy to me, though. I’m 41, and I only spent a couple of years on active duty, yet a buddy from the Army calls up and we are shooting the shit and insulting each other like we were sharing a bunk bed just yesterday. Yes, I’m hammered and feeling a touch nostalgic and it is NYE so we are all thinking about a fresh new year, but the concept of mortality just seems more important this year. I don’t know where I am going with this post, other than to say life is good. Even when it is shitty, it is still good. I don’t know what I have done to deserve such a blessed life, but I guess I just hit the lottery. Even so, it seems to go by so fast, and it is accelerating. When I was 21, I would spend Sundays saying “shit, it was just Friday, what happened?” Now, I am 41, and I say “shit, it was just June, now it is NYE, what happened?” And I am sure if I ever make it to 70, months will turn into years and decades. I don’t pretend to understand the fetish fetishists in the pro-life movement, but, as an atheist, I will agree- life is precious. Live it, and live it hard. It’s the only one you have:
So, I guess my message to you in 2012 is the following- let your kids stay up late and spend time with you even if you hate the fucking Chipmunk movie, give your pets too many treats, drink that extra beer and eat that extra scoop of ice cream, always tell mom and your wife you love them, always pet your dog when you can, always give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt, try everything new you can and repeat everything you love as often as you can even when it is bad for you, and live hard, fast, and full throttle and don’t you fucking dare apologize for it.
It will be over before you know it.
Happy New Year Juicers
I went to the party, had a good time, and then rushed home at the first opportunity. I hope you all have a great year, and it was better than the last one.