Croak of the day

It's early, but I think we have a winner:

It’s refreshing to have someone ask about the data before they write about it.--Bill Chapman of the University of Illinois’ Arctic Climate Research Center

Reported by Carl Zimmer in his Discover blog.

Croak of the day award

Goes to an explanation of the on-going financial disater by the extra-ordinary journalist Billmon. Even though it's 6am here, I can't imagine anyone doing anything better. The comments are worth it, too.

Croak of the day award

It's early, but I don't think anyone's going to top dday's:

Republicans are starting to actually be blamed for their own policy ideas

Krawk!

10,000 Little Hoovers

[2009.02.22 - minor grammatical error fixed] The Herbert kind, not the vacuum cleaner kind. As Krugman observes, in Fifty Herbert Hoovers, most of the state governments cannot borrow when they desperately need to. And they pass this down to all the local governments, all the authorities and cities that depend on state services. Urban areas are cutting transit. Just about every state is going to cut education. And so on. (Bet they figure out how to keep paying for prisons, bah!) And these cuts are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Transit services save government and private money; without them, people will be spending money on automobiles, and states and cities on roads. Education is more of a long-term investment, but it's important one, and cutting it will prolong the depression.

This sucks. Hmmm, maybe they're the other kind of Hoovers after all.

Krawk!

Croak of the day award

Once again to The Shrill One:

things are so bad that the summarized musings of central bankers can keep you up at night--Krugman

This is what they think they want

Two months ago, I linked to an article about the on-going fiscal train-wreck in California. A deal has finally been struck and it is truly awful, even from an honest conservative viewpoint--penny wise and pound foolish. California will be revisiting this. There's no other possibility, and matters will be worse when it does. But isn't this what the conservatives have been saying they wanted all along? They want the 19th century back. Only one problem--what are the going to do with all the extra people? When you hear about this, when you think about this, when you see the human misery this is going to create, remember: someone wanted this, someone made this happen. Not an accident, not a fluke. Policy.

Krawk!

In 2010, the Senate

[Partly in response to remarks in Avedon Carol's most excellent Sideshow.]

A President who was a progressive firebrand would have to declare himself emperor to implement progressive policies in a country where the majority of the Senate is conservative and the Democratic House leadership is also conservative. Progressives now need to focus on Congress: on electing more progressive Senators, and on getting the House Democratic leadership to properly represent the progressive House Democratic majority. It begins to appear that Pelosi has noticed she represents one of the most progressive districts in the USA. Good, that's a start, but let's keep pushing. But, the Senate. The Senate is a problem. We need to focus on the Senate for 2010 (and 2012 and 2014 and...)

What is this? Hope from The Raven? But yes! Krawkkrawkkrawk! W. Bush and his administration were barriers to change. They are gone, and now there is a clear direction for progressive political action. Krawk!