Jed Report

Maybe this will put the nail in "bipartisanship's" coffin

2009-09-08T14:48:25Z

So Baucus is finally out with his plan, and he's desperately seeking support. It's a much more conservative plan than other Democratic proposals -- no public option, more insurance company giveaways. If it doesn't win over significant Republican support, can we finally give up even the pretense of bipartisanship?

I mean, I'm all for getting Republicans on board a good bill. But it's the good bill that needs to come first. We shouldn't let Republicans hold good policy hostage just because they want to score political points.

The WTF Files

2009-09-04T20:22:35Z

Gang of six, still at their dirty tricks. And Clyburn pitches a regional pilot for the public option, which is probably better than a trigger, but still sucks, and badly.

Bite me

2009-09-04T20:07:41Z

Neil Cavuto is fashioning his show after "America's Most Wanted," desperately searching for the pro-reform yokel who bit off the anti-reform yokel's finger. He's even listing a phone number to call if you have information.

Well, I certainly don't condone eating or biting an appendage on somebody else's body. But I would like to point out how the pinky that got bitten off ended up in the biter's mouth. Apparently, the pinky-losing victim had punched the biter in the mouth, and somehow in the process inserted his pinky into the mouth of the biter.

Now, I'm not saying that I'd have bitten off the pinky (gross!), but if you stick one of your fingers in my mouth, it's not my fault if you don't get it back.

Fun moments on cable news

2009-09-04T19:02:20Z

The return of Jed Report

2009-09-04T07:02:05Z

It's been many months since I've updated anything on jedreport.com, but starting today, I'll be back posting on a more regular basis at this site.

If you've been following me at Daily Kos and Daily Kos TV, don't worry -- nothing will change with that. I'll just be adding some posts here to the mix, sometimes expanding on something I wrote on Daily Kos, sometimes just a quick thought or thinking out loud, and sometimes about nothing to do with politics at all.

I'm also going to set up some sort of cross-posting mechanism or widget so that you can access my Daily Kos posts here, but for now, I'm restarting things just using Movable Type's plain vanilla blog layout.

I'm sure I'll quickly fiddle with it and add in some new features, but at least right now, I'm keeping it simple.

By the way, on a personal note, I've moved from Las Vegas to San Diego to live with my girlfriend and our four pets (two dogs and two cats). I don't know how long we'll be here, or where we'll be off to next, but I do know that it's been absurdly hot here lately, and I can't wait for the weather to cool down!

More nutso from the GOP

2009-02-17T17:41:13Z

These guys are whacked out something fierce. (You can digg this video here.)

The Big Dog Defends The President

2009-02-16T20:19:06Z

Whatever his problems were in 2008, Bill Clinton proves they were just temporary in this clip defending President Obama from the GOP attack machine:

Here's the key quote:

“He has reached across, and it takes two to tango. I find it amazing that Republicans, who doubled the debt of the country in eight years and produced no new jobs doing it — gave us an economic record that is totally bereft of any productive result — are now criticizing him for spending money. … This stimulus is our bridge over troubled waters. He did the right thing.”

Getting Closer

2009-02-16T08:04:45Z

I'm finally nearing the finish line on development work for DKTV. On Sunday, we entered into a new round of the beta cycle, and with any luck, we'll be done this week.

Probably the most visible improvement is new look for the DKTV video player, and a much easier embed method.

And what better way to show it off, I figure, than one of my favorite clips ever of Barack Obama, from way back in November of 2007.

While Gregg was playing politics...

2009-02-12T23:22:37Z

...Preisdent Obama delivered this fantastic speech to honor the life of Abraham Lincoln:

President Obama understands what this nation needs from its leaders. The GOP -- typified by Judd Gregg -- has no clue.

Pretty Much Nailed It

2009-02-12T21:29:38Z

The first comment on my post over at Daily Kos on Judd Gregg's decision to withdraw from consideration for President Obama's cabinet:

What a Dick!

Hard to disagree with that.

By the way, here's what what I wrote:

BREAKING: Judd Gregg's Bipartisan Spirit

Looks like GOP hyperpartisanship has claimed another victim: according to MSNBC television, Judd Gregg has just issued a statement saying that because of his opposition to the stimulus plan and his views on handling the census that he is unwilling to serve in President Obama's cabinet.

Big mistake, Senator Gregg. Not only are you skipping out on an opportunity to serve your country, you're putting a big target on your Senate seat in 2010.

Florida's GOP Governor Endorses Obama Recovery Plan

2009-02-10T17:36:54Z

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist shows what bipartisanship looks like:

Republicans could learn a thing or two from Gov. Crist. Another poll or two, and they might figure it out. (Or not.)

Video Of President Obama's Speech In Elkhart

2009-02-09T19:01:46Z

I'll be posting the Q&A session shortly.

Here's a link to the prepared remarks.

Update (12:17PM): If you missed the Q&A, I've posted the full video at DKTV.

Steele Stupid, A New Beta, & Looking Towards Round 2 Of The Stimulus

2009-02-09T11:23:56Z

This post is a three-parter.

First, the new GOP chairman, Michael Steele tries to attack the stimulus plan for "creating" jobs (that's the whole point, Mr. Steele!):

(h/t: JJP)

Second, this video is posted from the new beta 2 release of Daily Kos TV. It's undergone a facelift, and more importantly, the video player is now more reliable. There's still more work to be done, but progress is being made. Let me know your feedback!

Third, on a totally different note, I'm not happy with the reported Senate compromise. Unfortunately, it very well could be the best deal that we could get from the Senate, given the requirement that 60 senators waive the budget act to allow deficit spending (not to mentiont he filibuster).

Hopefully, the bill well get better in conference, but it's virtually certain that the it won't do enough for the economy, and that it will force President Obama to go back to the well to boost things up.

The good news here is that the budget process ultimately does not require 60 votes in the senate, so while President Obama was hamstrung by the 60 vote requirement in this round, he won't be in the next.

A deal?

2009-02-06T23:19:32Z

Sounds like some sort of a deal has been reached in the Senate on stimulus. Some leakers say the price tag for the bill will be $780 billion over the next three years (a bit less than 2% of GDP).

Undoubtedly, when the legislation goes to conference, the overall stimulus package will grow, closer to the size of what the House passed.

Whatever the case, it's pretty ironic that the idiot Senators who want to reduce the size of the stimulus bill argue that they are increasing the stimulus bill.

Cutting spending to achieve more stimulus is like saying saying they want to see more scoring in football, so they are making the field 125 yards long.

Question

2009-02-06T19:53:01Z

I just saw Tom Coburn saying the solution for economic recovery is to "fix housing."

WTF does he mean? I hear this all the time from GOPers.

Do they mean that housing prices need to return to bubble-levels? Do they even think that's possible without tremendous inflation?

And if it were possible, wouldn't it just lead to a repeat of the mess we're in now?

To me "fixing housing" means putting in place policies that will prevent this from ever happening again. But the idea that we can return to the artificially high prices of the housing boom without ruinous economic policies is a complete and total joke.

There's a reason people like John Cole call Republicans clowns.

It's because that's just what they are.