Hey, if politics isn’t about giving no-bid contracts to your supporters, what’s the point of being in politics?
WASHINGTON Aug 24, 2006 (AP)— The government awarded 70 percent of its contracts for Hurricane Katrina work without full competition, wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the process, says a House study released Thursday by Democrats. [...]

Read Full Post »

I’m not worried about Little Ricky closing the gap. Casey’s barely started advertising and Santorum’s already into the negative-ad phase. Why? Because like Richard Gere in “An Officer and A Gentlemen,” he’s got no place else to go!
He’s still got high negatives. They’re flat, and they’ll stay that way. Pennsylvania voters are simply waiting to [...]

Read Full Post »

How do you like this? This happened right around the corner from me yesterday, and I didn’t hear a damned thing.

Read Full Post »

Another hot, steamy day here in Philadelphia, and as a result, I am sucking back gallons of iced tea. The caffeine brings on hot flashes, which makes me hot, which only makes me want more iced tea. (Sigh.)
I read once that Philadelphia has the highest per capita consumption of iced tea (sweet tea, to you [...]

Read Full Post »

I wish I was surprised:
School children across the United States have raised more money for Katrina relief efforts than many major U.S. corporations, according to a non-profit group, RandomKid, which has tracked donations by children.
Over $10 million was raised by school kids through bake sales, lemonade stands, car washes and other fundraisers, according to RandomKid. [...]

Read Full Post »

I thought this whole thing was absurd. First of all, any man who takes marriage advice from Forbes is a moron. But the real point was lost in the debate; frankly, the magazine is a piece of crap.
I like business publications - the good ones. (By that, I mean they stick to good reporting and [...]

Read Full Post »

Great piece in the Times (hat tip to DG08) about the judicial establishment tying themselves in knots over the inconvenient truth of Bush v. Gore, and the SCOTUS insistence that it was not a precedent:
Bush v. Gore’s lasting significance is being fought over right now by the Ohio-based United States Court of Appeals for the [...]

Read Full Post »

The Real News Project reports on the top 25 Democratic consultants, who they’re working for and what it’s likely to mean if we win:
In today’s cash-fueled political world, both parties claim they have no option but to function as indentured servants of corporate America. This, not surprisingly, creates a dynamic of dependency and obligation. The [...]

Read Full Post »

Shorter GOP mantra: Why aren’t you helping us scare people?
Somebody call the Wahhhmbulance…

Read Full Post »

Brent Budowsky offers election advice to the Democrats:
I come from the JFK school of winning. When I was a very young Senate aide, my bosses were JFK guys and would take me periodically to the old Mayflower Hotel where the great Kenny O’Donnell would hold court and talk about JFK and Bobby. They knew how [...]

Read Full Post »

Or you could imagine if Bush had actually read the Aug. 6th press briefing:
TOLEDO, Ohio — Presidential adviser Karl Rove criticized a federal judge’s order
for an immediate end to the government’s warrantless surveillance program, saying
Wednesday such a program might have prevented the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Rove said the government should be free to listen if [...]

Read Full Post »

Funding’s dried up and Mary Beth can no longer afford hosting for the Draft Al Gore 2008 site. Damn, she’s worked so hard and given up so much for this! Any of you geeks out there have a server where she can host it for free until after the mid-terms (when, presumably, people will be [...]

Read Full Post »

See? This is why I don’t watch cable news - so I’m not subjected to this kind of silly propaganda.
And what a coincidence, that this happens when Spike Lee’s powerful documentary comes out.
By the way, read this, and ask yourself why old Rockey managed to spirit one away for a photo op.

Read Full Post »

I feel a lot better, knowing BushCo’s right on top of this problem:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community is ill-prepared to assess Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities and its intentions for developing weapons of mass destruction, a congressional report said on Wednesday.
Noting “significant gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the various areas of concern [...]

Read Full Post »

“I love my church, and I’m a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That’s totally different from the Word, the [...]

Read Full Post »

Here we go again:
WASHINGTON — A judicial watchdog group contended Tuesday that Michigan U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, who last week struck down a federal warrantless wiretapping program, may have had a conflict of interest in the case.
Judicial Watch, a conservative-leaning group based in Washington, issued a news release calling attention to Taylor’s apparent [...]

Read Full Post »

Here comes the bust:
In early July, economist Dean Baker told readers to keep an eye on consumer credit numbers. In May, credit card debt spiked up 9.9 percent, a possible sign, said Baker, that consumers were beginning to rely on plastic for their purchases, rather than cash from their home refinancings. But one month did [...]

Read Full Post »

Stop smoking, exercise and you’ll stay hard.

Read Full Post »

I wouldn’t be taking out any home equity loans right now:
WASHINGTON - Sales of previously owned homes plunged in July to the lowest level in 2 1/2 years and the inventory of unsold homes climbed to a new record high, fresh signs that the housing market has lost steam.
The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday [...]

Read Full Post »

The Clash:

Read Full Post »

They do seem to have an inordinate amount of time to spend on anything related to sex, don’t they?
NEW YORK - Pornographic movies now seem nearly as pervasive in America’s hotel rooms as tiny shampoo bottles, and the lodging industry shows little concern as conservative activists rev up a protest campaign aimed at triggering a [...]

Read Full Post »

What a nightmare:
WASHINGTON — Up to 2,500 Marines will be recalled to active duty to make up for a critical shortage of specialists to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marine Corps said yesterday, the first time since the invasion of Iraq three years ago that Marine commanders have taken the extraordinary step of drafting [...]

Read Full Post »

You have to expect this sort of thing when you’re trying to drown government in the bathtub:
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Duarnis Perez became an American citizen when he was 15, but he didn’t find out until after he had been deported and then jailed for trying to get back into the country.
He was facing his [...]

Read Full Post »

Another example of how non-Stepford Mommies get slapped for their honesty. Personally, I think she’s probably not as detached as she likes to sound - but it made a better story.

Read Full Post »

Via Danny Schecter, this:
The Briton alleged to be the ‘mastermind’ behind the airline terror plot could be innocent of any significant involvement, sources close to the investigation claim.
Rashid Rauf, whose detention in Pakistan was the trigger for the arrest of 23 suspects in Britain, has been accused of taking orders from Al Qaeda’s ‘No3’ [...]

Read Full Post »

Barbara from Mahablog has some sharp insights into the disaster that is Katrina aid. Go read, and don’t forget to watch Part 2 of Spike Lee’s documentary “When The Levees Broke” tonight on HBO.

Read Full Post »

Read Full Post »

I was a guest today at a fundraising luncheon for local congressional candidate and fighting Dem Patrick Murphy, sponsored by VA Gov. Mark Warner’ Forward Together PAC. (The 32rd floor of the Mellon Building. Oo la la!) Duncan was there, as was Booman and Alex Urevick-Acklesberg of Young Philly Politics.
I just love Patrick, a real [...]

Read Full Post »

Drinking Liberally at Tangier, 18th & Lombard, 6 - 9 p.m. Drink specials and free wings for early birds!

Read Full Post »

Check out this really cool video documentary the Chicago Tribune produced tracing the gasoline at one local pump to its origins.

Read Full Post »