Tax cuts boost revenues, right? Wrong!

It's an article of faith among Republicans that tax cuts actually increase government revenues, and it's an article of proven reality among economists that tax cuts don't increase government revenues.

Who you gonna believe? The GOP ideologues or the certifiable experts?

No need for schisms

When I read this, it suddenly occurred to me that the Catholic and Episcopal denominations could easily solve some of their problems by exchanging certain portions of their respective flocks.

All the homophobes and misogynists in the Episcopal Church should convert to Catholicism, and all the Catholics who are uncomfortable with their church's homophobia and misogyny should switch to Episcopalianism. After all, the two demoninations otherwise have a lot in common in terms of liturgy and stuff.

If this brilliant idea catches on, I might qualify for sainthood in both religions. That'd be cool.

Imagine

Before this day passes, let's recall that it's the 27th anniversary of the death of John Lennon:

Why are women more likely to vote than men?

Women have a higher rate of voting because most men are too busy being assholes.

I say that as a man who used to be an asshole. I'm now a wonderful guy. And I vote.

The Baseball Hall of Shame

Former Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn has been elected to the Hall of Fame, but not deservedly.

Most military families oppose Bush's war

Barely one-third of U.S. military families approve of George W. Bush's war in Iraq.

These people must be dirty, commie, hippie scumbags, right? True patriots stand behind our president in a time of war, right? That's what I hear from the folks on Fox News and on talk radio.

Jefferson could never get elected today

Thomas Jefferson, who was not the Christian that some of our preachers these days pretend he was, could not be a contender for the presidency in 2008.

Jefferson was bitterly opposed by the Religious Right of his time. Today, he'd be condemned as the Anti-Christ.

Check out Tom's religious views here.

Flash: God endorses Huckabee!

Who knew? I always figured God for a Democrat -- or at least a liberal independent.

Wow!

I've been involved in politics one way or another for 40 years, and this is the best campaign commercial I've ever seen:

Neo-Cons say CIA traitors are out to undermine Bush's foreign policy

That famous National Intelligence Estimate declaring that Iran is not the nuclear threat the Bush administration had claimed it was has got the neoconservatives among us entertaining all manner of daffy conspiracy theories.

The juiciest among them is that the CIA is infested with Bush haters who will stop at nothing to make trouble for him.

"Freedom requires religion"?

I don't know if Mitt Romney's eagerly awaited speech this morning on the subject of religion did him any good politically, but I do know that his remarks were mostly bullshit.

Not even the 10 American flags with which he shared the stage could camouflage the fallacies in his misreading of our nation's history and the constitutional niceties regarding religion.

"Freedom requires religion," Romney said. Does that mean that I, as an agnostic, have less freedom than the gullible saps who embrace the fairy tales and superstitions peddled by most, if not all, religions? Not according to my copy of the Constitution.

UPDATE: Kevin Drum has the right take on Romney's speech. So does this guy. And this guy.

Too much Freud from a guy named Dick

This is funny.

(By the way, you can write your own caption for the photo here of Dick Cheney.)

String section

A former White House official, no less, concedes that the Bush administration plays right-wing bloggers like so many violins.

You don't have to be a sexist to oppose Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy -- but it helps

Hillary Clinton would make a better president than any of the Republican candidates for the job, but she's not my first choice. I prefer Barack Obama.

Clinton's gender has nothing to do with my choice in this matter. Nor is it necessarily a factor in the attitudes of some of the other folks who prefer some other candidate. But let's not kid ourselves. There are a whole lot of people out there who have deep-seated misgivings about the very idea of a woman serving as president, and lots of them see certain traits they would admire in a man as unattractive in a woman.

Robin Gerber of the Gallup Organization has an interesting take on the situation.

Frederick of Hollywood is too crusty

David Broder doesn't often hit the bullseye anymore, but he had it right the other day when he said that "Fred Thompson appears perpetually grumpy -- a presence hard to imagine inhabiting the Oval Office."

Maybe that's why Thompson, who was expected by some to surge to the front of the Republican presidential pack, has faltered instead. The guy always seems peeved. Yeah, Americans in general are pretty pissed these days, but they're not likely to elect a grouch to the presidency.

Ah, but Don Manzullo, who represents The Rascal in Congress, is sticking with Fred. Too bad Manzullo's not a betting man. I'd be glad to give him 5-t0-1 odds; he gets Thompson and I take the rest of the field. No, hell, I'd give him 10-to-1 odds. The only place Fred is going is back to Hollywood.

Find the problem in this poll

This poll, released today by the Associated Press and the Pew Research Center, is almost worthless because of a huge flaw.

It's a two-fold problem that can be summed up in one word beginning with "t."

The answer is in the comments section.

Is Hillary toast?

I don't agree with this guy's assessment, but it's worth pondering.

It's going to be a fun year

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has created this ad urging folks to come up with camera-phone videos of pols (preferably Republican pols, I'm sure) in potentially embarrassing situations:

Mitt slates speech on his Mormonism

Steve Benen over at the Carpetbagger Report explains why he thinks Romney's speech will be a political failure.

Huckabee vs. Hillary?

That's one of the scenarios imagined in BooMan's interesting analysis of the races for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.