1. When they talk about costs in a crisis, assume true costs will be ten to 100 times estimates and that they will hide the real cost.
In this current Wall Street crisis please note that the $700 billion bailout does not include the bailout costs of Bear Sterns (up to $29 billion), Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac […]
I’m against piling on court fees and charges for people convicted of crimes when those costs aren’t directly part of the sentencing fine for the crime. It can further criminalize lower income people, who can’t pay the fines and end up in more trouble, and it makes it tougher for those on the margins […]
There are still rescue workers suffering illness from the September 11th attacks on New York - and some still are not receiving treatment, or sufficient treatment due to lack of health coverage. It’s a national scandal and disgrace.
[Hat tip Matt Yglesias]
The Politico reports:
“The endorsement could hardly have been stronger. On Monday, John McCain’s campaign released a statement signed by 300 economists who ‘enthusiastically support’ his ‘Jobs for America’ economic plan, providing a heavyweight testimonial to the presumptive Republican nominee’s ‘broad and powerful economic agenda.’
There’s just one problem. Upon closer inspection, it seems […]
It’s great when positive things get done in state government. It’s even better if we can get positive things done in a bi-partisan way, where both Democrats and Republicans support a good bill. What can you say about good bills that get unanimous votes - where everyone voting supports the bill? Pretty amazing!
I […]
Illinois State Senator Don Harmon was able to get unanimous support on his ethics reform bill in the State Senate a week ago. The Chicago Tribune quoted Senator Harmon describing the passage as “a huge day” for the state and the senator noted that “the bill was narrowly drawn to avoid constitutional problems.” […]
[Editor Note: I’ve made a correction below about Rick Lawrence self-funding - I’ll have more tonight.]
The Beacon News recently ran a story saying over 25% of Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner’s donors have received contracts, employment or funds from the city of Aurora. The article does not allege wrong-doing, but does suggest a problem […]
According to today’s New York Times, Justin Case, John McCain’s Spokesperson/Campaign Manager/Strategist/Chief Fundraiser/Field Manager/All-Around Handy Guy, told reporters that John McCain had fired his staff because of their lobbying connections, including clients like a Russian businessman “barred from entering” the U.S. because of purported links to organized crime, the repressive totalitarian country Myanmar (Burma) and […]
Charlie Pierce has written an extremely powerful piece, “The Cynic and Senator Obama,” in this month’s Esquire. Whatever you may think of it - it’s an important criticism, made more moving by Pierce’s love for an America lost (and feared forever lost). I got there via Ezra Klein’s post, which is also well […]
Illinois Lieutenant Governors have the primary duty of waiting until the governor is “dead” and then succeeding them (pdf). Gotta wonder what Pat Quinn thinks of this.
