Really, not as intense a tragedy as Kent State, but if he gets the Speaker's Gavel in a wave election, another tragedy from my home state, Boehner of Orange.
Versus Nancy Pelosi.
People, its the midterms. I understand that many had their hopes stoked by the Presidential campaign, and many had their hopes satisfied, at least somewhat, and many had their hopes dashed, at least somewhat ... but this aint Presidential Primary season. Its the General Election Midterms.
Where are the YouTubes telling young Hispanic first time 2008 voters in Spanish "Poder para el Pueblo / Nadie Silente! Vota!" ... where's the Green fightback against Republican scorched earth ... is it all lost in naval gazing in the middle of General Election season?
When Lawrence O'Donnell started berating the woman who received the email from Alan Simpson with this BS (5:05)], I was forced to leave the room until Rachel came on:
It is solvent until 2037.
Workers your age who are contributing to social security every day, we concurrently tell you when your time comes to collect, the money will not be there according to all projections we have today.
"According to all the projections we have today"? First, that is false. Its according to one projection we have today ~ among a range of projections that are made. And second, if Lawrence O'Donnell is going to shift from host to pundit, he is responsible when he uses figures in a misleading way.
Over the fold, how this is wrong, let me Countdown the Ways.
While Matthew Yglesias tends to be susceptible to patently absurd conventional wisdom economics, he does have his moments, as back in February when he observed:
The people in all the key jobs-not just the members of congress and cabinet secretaries and FOMC members and newspaper editors, but the bulk of the people who staff those people-are virtually all college graduates. And the way America works in 2010 those people are overwhelmingly going to have friends, neighbors, and acquaintances who are also college graduates. And while the labor market outlook for college graduates is bad by the standards of recent history, it's really not catastrophic. Things look very different for people with high school diplomas.
The figures are stark, and starker when plotted as a graph:
Mike Lux's latest draws attention to this Andrew Romanoff ad in the Democratic Senate primary in Colorado.
"You and I are going to shut their Casino down" is just the kind of message Democrats need to utilize and embody. It's obvious that, especially now, "Meh" is extremely bad politics. This kind of straightforward progressive populism is the best thing the Democratic Party has going for it (as long as the sentiment is genuine and reflected in action).
Mike Lux refutes Matt Bai in "A Modern Populist Movement." It's really good, even for Lux, who is easily one of the best in the blogosphere in my view. This piece is definitely worth reading and passing around.
President Obama was at his best in Wisconsin today.
Now this is what I'm talking about. Of course words have to be backed up with action, but as far as the message goes, this is excellent. More like this please.
Conservative Republican are using the Kagan hearings to rail against Thurgood Marshall, with unintentionally hilarious results.
On the other side of the isle, two freshman Democrats, Sheldon Whitehouse and Al Franken, are forcefully confronting the 5 - 4 right - wing majority on the Roberts court, and its fealty to corporate interests.
The March Jobs Report has come, and though there appears to have been some employment growth in the rose colored glasses retailing sector, in most other sectors, the headline is that the Job Free Recovery continues.
There are three main numbers to focus on when looking at the monthly employment report:
employment
the headline unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted
the broad ("U6") unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted
William Galston's most recent post at Huff Po is a good example of what happens to influential members of the Democratic establishment when they put on Beltway Goggles and refuse to take them off.
Galston is decidedly in the DLC / Third Way / Hamilton Project camp; what I like to call the Limousine "Centrist" Caucus. He may not belong in the Mark Penn / Lanny Davis category of ultra - hacks, but his approach would lead us to a similar place.
The usual defenses of Galston and company get many things backwards. They're called "realists," even though their approach to politics is a self - fulfilling prophecy. They're often referred to (many times by themselves) as "practical," even though -- especially now -- projecting weakness is political malpractice. They're praised as "thoughtful," despite their rigid devotion to timidity.
Galston's post is called "Deal With It: 2008 Wasn't Anything Like 1933 or 1965." He's right in the sense that comparisons of the present to the mid 30's and 60's aren't perfect. But after the 2008 election, the potential for major progressive change existed, and still exists to a certain extent. Galston dismisses any similarities by highlighting a point he brings up frequently.
The number of Americans who self - identify as "liberals" is relatively low.
Any "analysis" that is built around this one fact is deeply flawed. I'll explain why below.
Really, not as intense a tragedy as Kent State, but if he gets the Speaker's Gavel in a wave election, another tragedy from my home state, Boehner of Orange.
When Lawrence O'Donnell 
The March Jobs Report has come, and though there appears to have been some employment growth in the 
