I don't even like linking these stories anymore.

Double-Post; Ooops; Corrected. The story I linked is actually older than the one Dave linked this morning; my story is about the expected revision down to 1.4%; it was actually revised down to 1.6%. I've been avoiding these embarrassing don't-you-read-your-own-blog double-posts for a while but as you can see I'm a little... scattered today.

Ah well: I still wanted to yell about it. I am... uh, titling this "Reposted for Emphasis." Yeah, that's what I was trying to do.

...

It's nice to be vindicated. But I don't know how much more vindication the country can take.

The government is about to confirm what many people have felt for some time: The economy barely has a pulse.

That's a sharp slowdown from the first quarter, when the economy grew at a 3.7 percent annual rate, and economists say it's a taste of the weakness to come. The current quarter isn't expected to be much better, with many economists forecasting growth of only 1.7 percent.

Such slow growth won't feel much like an economic recovery and won't lead to much hiring. The unemployment rate, now at 9.5 percent, could even rise by the end of the year.

"The economy is going to limp along for the next few months," said Gus Faucher, an economist at Moody's Analytics. There's even a one in three chance it could slip back into recession, he said.

Estimates of that double dip range from 30% to "Doctor Doom's" 40%. And even if we avoid a technical recession (two consecutive quarters of below-zero growth) it is in reality a recession if growth continues at the approximate pace of population growth.

I have to ask again: Why was such a crucial matter delegated to Noble Prize winning Economist Nancy Pelosi? Why was Obama's most important task left to Chicago U. Economics Department Chairman Harry Reid?

Why was $1 trillion spent as if it was a twenty dollar bill found in the street?

It's not just that that trillion is gone. Well, it's not gone. It remains, of course, on the country's ledger as a debt that will likely only be repaid in the form of 10-15% inflation.

It's that that was our one bullet. Our one bullet, and Obama covered his eyes and fired it off into the darkness, with only Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid guiding the barrel.

The Democrats make bank on the question of "Which party has the most concern for you?" (you know the question I mean, even if I don't).

But do they? Millions of people out of work and they shit out a stimulus plan not even designed by liberal economists (they would not be my first preference, but at least they would have credentialed expertise) but by party hacks and Nancy Pelosi's staff of lawyers?

As millions of people face the soul-grinding situation of joblessness, and even hopelessness, this is how Team Talent of the Obama Administration shows how much it cares for the typical American citizen?

Playing partisan games with people's lives based on no guiding economic principle except "I won"?

Posted by: Ace at 11:15 AM | Comments (86)
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Well, after I yelled at people and defended them and trusted them, huh?

This is my personal Rubicon. Either we have a democracy or we do not. If we do not have a democracy, I won't be forced to choose between one party's anti-democratic leaders and another's.

Lisa Murkowski, in all likelihood, lost. That is how we score things in America. We take our cases to the people, who are, supposedly, sovereign.

If the NRSC continues attempting to thwart the sovereignty of the people, I'm personally out, and I don't care anymore if Obama's Democrats win. I really don't, and I'm not being ironic. This isn't a parody post: This is real.

It's not that I'm so personally invested in Joe Miller. I am, but not that much. He came on my radar late.

It's that I'm personally invested in democracy. 90% of the reason I am anti-liberal is that they are anti-democratic. I fled the insanity of liberal tyranny for the conservative movement for this reason, first among all others (and all others aren't very close).

If the Republican Party is a royalist party, then I flee them as well, and I confess my error: The more radical elements of the Tea Party are right, third party is the only way possible, even if it means living under socialist rule for a generation.

Lisa Murkowski is attempting to run as a representative of a different party. She is not then a Republican. Helping her is thus contrary to the NRSC's mission. She can either attempt to capture the Republican Party's nomination through recounts and such, and swear in a written document to not pursue another party's nomination, or she can stop using the services and influence of the NRSC.

She cannot do both. Either she seeks the Republican nomination, in which case she will abide by the will of the Republican voters, or she can seek another party's nomination, in which case she is not entitled to any assistance from a party she has departed and declared to be her opponent.

John Cornyn represents a red state, a state whose voters generally want more, not less, conservative politicians in other states.

Would his voters in Texas like to know that his primary goal is not the furtherance of the conservative movement but defeating the Jim DeMint conservative faction? Would his supposed constituents in Texas like to know he's really more concerned with maintaining a block of like-minded Senators in Maine and Alaska than furthering the goals of most of the people he supposedly represents?

Sorry To Reverse Myself (and Contradict DrewM) So Suddenly. I should say there are a lot of ifs here. I don't know exactly what is going on -- I continue to hope that the NRSC's primary goal here is to see to it that both sides (both) are treated fairly and the person who got the greatest number of votes in the primary is the actual nominee.

I continue to hope that the support for Lisa Murkowski from the NRSC will be only that which it is duty-bound to provide and not anything extra just to keep a good number of moderate votes on the GOP side so that John Cornyn doesn't have to expose himself to the wrath of Texas voters by voting against conservative positions himself.

I hope that, I really do.

Because if there's more than that going on we will get that GOP Civil War after all, and there will no longer be a GOP.

We all had a deal, I thought: We will battle in the primaries and whoever wins, wins, and then we will put that strife past us and unite.

That means, if the Tea Party loses, it accepts it lost, and rejoins the party after its attempt to ouster an incumbent.

That also means if the establishment loses, it accepts it lost, and rejoins the party after its attempt to keep an incumbent.

That's how we all keep from going at each other's throats -- we all agree to accept neutral rules of the game and abide by those rules.

Now if one side seems to believe they have a special license, a special prerogative, to change the rules in the middle of the game... well, then. We don't have the agreement I believed we did.

I hope John Cornyn and his cronies are evaluating whether Lisa Murkowski is worth destroying the party over. Whether this scintilatingly mediocre mind is worth full nuclear war within the party. Whether this desperate-for-validation insecure personality type is worth the loss of the upcoming elections. And if her primary win is important enough to Cornyn to guarantee his own primary defeat.

I hope they're considering that, because yes, it is that serious. This is not about a man. It's not about Miller or Murkowski. This is about the principle that the people are sovereign-- are they or aren't they?

Word is Murkowski is already attempting to buy the Libertarian nomination:

I have confirmed through multiple sources that Lisa Murkowski has already approached the Alaska Libertarian Party. In exchange for putting her on the Libertarian ticket in November, Murkowski will hand the Libertarians a sizable chunk of her +$1 million war chest.

The Libertarian Party Chairman, Scot Kohlhaas, is denying direct talks with Murkowski, and says it probably wonÂ’t happen, but I can confirm conversations are still happening regarding this.

I am willing to bet that John Cornyn is sending Murkowski help without first getting a promise from her that she will not run third party if she loses.

That's it right there: Unless she formally swears, with such clarity that her broken word will make it nearly impossible for her to win an election, that she will seek the Republican nomination and no other, and abide by the determination of Republican voters, she is simply not entitled to any assistance from the NRSC.

Posted by: Ace at 08:27 AM | Comments (600)
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Obama's campaign to make the Democratic brand as toxic as possible before November rolls on.

The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing.

The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that "no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future."

First, let me say a few words about Guantanamo. By any measure, our system of trying detainees has been an enormous failure. Over the course of nearly seven years, there has not been a single conviction for a terrorist act at Guantanamo. There has been just one conviction for material support for terrorism. Meanwhile, this legal black hole has substantially set back America's ability to lead the world against the threat of terrorism, and undermined our most basic values. Make no mistake: we are less safe because of the way George Bush has handled this.

During the campaign, Obama repeatedly insinuated that the Bush administration's approach to terrorism suspects was a violation of this country's values and stated time and again that he trusted the courts to bring terrorism suspects to justice. The unspoken message was clear: George W. Bush's approach to terror suspects proved that he didn't care about American values. Obama promised Americans that his administration would deal with terrorists in a way that he said would be more consistent with our nation's values. So far, his administration's approach has been to ignore the issue entirely.

Seventeen American sailors were killed in the attack on the USS Cole. The government has evidence linking Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri to that attack and are ready to charge him. Obama's justice department stopped the process.

What does that say about Obama's values?

Update - A good catch by "the captain's log" in the comments. New York Times, February 6, 2009:

President Obama on Friday assured family members of Americans who were killed in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and in the Sept. 11 attacks that the terror suspects will be prosecuted and brought “to a swift and certain justice.”

Even those he makes to grieving families, apparently.

Posted by: Slublog at 07:03 AM | Comments (223)
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Okay, don't freak out just yet. Not all of them are Republican votes and not all of them will be allowed to be counted but it's a fair number of votes. Here's the breakdown...

Miller is currently leading Murkowski by 1,668 votes.

Elections officials on Thursday evening released the first detailed breakdown of the remaining ballots.

The state has received back 11,266 absentee ballots so far out of over 16,000 requested. The ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday's election but can come in as much as 15 days afterward.

There are also 658 early votes not yet counted and 8,972 questioned ballots. A ballot can be "questioned" for several reasons. Often the reason is that the voter cast the ballot in a precinct other than where they live.

... The Division of Elections plans to count all the absentee ballots on Aug. 31 that it has received by then. Some of the questioned ballots will be disqualified; for example if it turns out the voter really wasn't registered in Alaska. Those that are valid will likely be counted on Sept. 3. Elections officials said they'll do a final count of absentees and any other remaining ballots on Sept. 8.

The number of remaining ballots changes daily as more absentees come in and there's no way to know how many will be disqualified. But if all the current number of 20,896 remaining ballots were counted and three-fourths of them voted in the Republican Senate primary, Murkowski would need the vote on roughly 55 percent to win.

Obviously the nearly 9,000 or so challenged ballots are a BFD as Joe Biden would say because they were not factored in to earlier numbers. And no, this isn't a dirty trick designed to screw Miller, it's a normal part of every election. Though to my untrained eye almost 9,00 votes seems high. The thing to remember though is that they aren't all Republican votes either. That's the total from all races. Given that Republican turnout was significantly heavier than the Democrats, it's likely the uncounted questioned votes will reflect that fact. A lot of them also won't be allowed to be counted as well.

Still, Murkowski is facing a very steep climb.

Meanwhile, the Miller campaign is calling on the National Republican Senatorial Committee to stay out of the proceedings.

Joe Miller, candidate for United States Senate, believes the National Republican Senatorial Committee's proper place during the Republican Primary Election in Alaska is on the sidelines. The purpose of the organization is "electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate." It is not to pick favorites amongst those running, nor is it to send lawyers to try to manipulate the outcome. Miller said, "You have to be concerned anytime somebody lawyers up and tries to pull an Al Franken, if you will. We are very aware that there may be some attempt here to skew the results. I hope that is not the case. Alaskans won't stand for any post-election foul play; the accurate vote of the people must stand.”

Miller also pointed out that Lisa Murkowski has not publicly ruled out a third party run. “It is inappropriate for the NRSC to spend money on a candidate who may not even be the Republican nominee and in fact may change parties to run against the Party's choice,” said Miller.

I know a lot of people agree with Miller and I get why he would want them to stay out but it seems pretty clear to me that the NRSC is within bounds to help Murkowski here.

The NRSC isn't a free floating, independent body, it's created and run by the Republican members of the Senate (which includes Murkowski, at the moment). It's Republican Senators who raise the money for it. If the rule suddenly became Republican Senators couldn't call on the resources they raised when they need them the most or that they could be used against them, the Committee would disappear in about an hour.

I have no problem with the NRSC helping incumbent members over challengers, the problem for me begins when they interfere in open primaries (like Florida).

The important thing is that if (fingers crossed) Miller wins, the NRSC supports him.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:00 AM | Comments (173)
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It's almost like they have no plan at all to fish the economy out of the toilet. Instead, the story will be the Tea Party, which...racist!

The DCCC Chairman leads:

In a speech this morning in Washington, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) will offer a rebuttal to House Minority Leader John Boehner's remarks earlier this week in Ohio -- making the case that it is Republicans, not Democrats, who would move the country backwards economically (and otherwise) if put back into power.

The speech will hit Republican for pursuing a "destructive agenda" and call out the tea party for moving the GOP to the "extreme right", according to a committee official briefed on the remarks.

Van Hollen's speech, which is set for 10 a.m. at the National Press Club, is part of a broader push by national Democrats to suggest the tea party has taken over the GOP -- and set the stakes for midterm voters.

That "broader push" is already on. Here's civil rights activist and former Democratic congressman Walter Fauntroy:

"We are going to take on the barbarism of war, the decadence of racism, and the scourge of poverty, that the Ku Klux -- I meant to say the Tea Party," Fauntroy told a news conference today at the National Press Club. "You all forgive me, but I -- you have to use them interchangeably."

Fauntroy attempted to explain the comparison to white supremacists by saying that organizers behind the "Restoring Honor" rally are the same people who cut audio cables from a sound system the night before the historic March on Washington and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

According to Democratic thinking, the new strategy is supposed to rouse a few more apathetic Democrats and mitigate the losses in November. I say supposed to, but this one's not even going to make it out of the gate. The Tea Party polls quite well with voters. Making it the enemy isn't going to move many.

More than that, calls of racism aren't the motivator they once were. That card has been played...and played and played. If a Democrat is thundering about racism, you can bet there's a buncha people rolling their eyes and saying "yeah, whatever."

The new strategy also forgets some rather smart campaign advice: "it's the economy, stupid." If Democrats want to stand in their empty campaign headquarters and bleat about how skeery the Tea Party is, that's fine. The Republican candidates can continue to campaign on substantive proposals to get us out of the mess that Obama's just wallowing in.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:10 AM | Comments (268)
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Revised down from initial estimate of 2.4%, from "anemic" to "crappy". Unexpected? Naaah.

Recovery summer baby. From jobs "created or saved" to "lives touched". I've been touched by this recovery, and it feels wrong to me. Bad touch, bad touch.

The final numbers are due Sept. 30

dangit, forgot to tip GulfCostTider. Mybad.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:57 AM | Comments (56)
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Brand Democrat™ from Slublog.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:30 AM | Comments (86)
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This California legislation has been tossed around since January, when we first discussed it. The idea is both to provide protection to clergy from being forced to perform gay marriages and to ensure that churches in California cannot be deprived of tax-exempt status for failing to perform gay marriages.

It passed. But this portion of the article makes me think I'm on Bizarro World:

[Mark] Leno, a gay Democrat from San Francisco, defended the measure when it was opposed by Sen. Roy Ashburn, an openly gay Republican from Bakersfield.

Ashburn objected that the bill defines same-sex marriages as civil relationships, which he says puts them in a lesser class than heterosexual marriages.

Through the rabbit hole, man.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:59 PM | Comments (158)
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Happy Thursday all. And based on last night here is our new theme...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:54 PM | Comments (695)
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Gov. Jan "Oh No You Din't" Brewer just filed the brief.

PHOENIX -- A federal ruling blocking portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law "has caused irreparable harm" to the state's residents, Gov. Jan Brewer said Thursday in announcing her plans to file a legal brief later in the day in opposing the ruling.

Brewer wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reverse the ruling U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton made last month.

I don't think she'll stop at the 9th if they say no either.

Brief here.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:45 PM | Comments (148)
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