Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Author: Asymptosis

  • Wall Street Journal Endorses Obama

    Well not in so many words, but for all intents and purposes: In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution. Here. Related posts: Hillary: The “one-woman solution to…

  • McCain Biographer Now Sez: “not a principled man.”

    Elizabeth Drew, who penned a rather adulatory McCain biography just a few years ago (Citizen McCain,  2002), says: … In retrospect, other once-hailed McCain efforts – his cultivation of the press (“my base”) and even his fight for campaign finance reform (launched in the wake of his embarrassment over the Keating Five scandal) now seem…

  • John McCain Pledges to Eradicate Government

    John McCain has promised to balance the federal budget by 2013. He's also pledged to enact a tax plan that will deliver a budget deficit of $650 billion dollars in 2013. Just to give these numbers a little perspective: Agency 2013 Projected Outlays Agriculture $120 billion Commerce $9 billion Education $86 billion Energy $30 billion…

  • The Republican Energy “Plan”?

    Here's the best description I've seen of McCain's plan for American "energy independence": The image was produced by these guys, with data from the Energy Information Administration.  HT to Gristmill and Mark Thoma. Related posts: The Villain of Building Energy Efficiency: Triple-Net Leases. Not Picking the Low-Hanging Fruit The Efficiency of De Ebil Gubmint Man…

  • Yeah, The Economy Rocks Under Dems. But It’s Not Their Fault.

    Greg Mankiw pooh-poohs the data using one of his favorite tactics: Fun with Statistics Princeton economist Alan Blinder says Democratic Presidents are better for economic equality between rich and poor. Chicago economist Casey Mulligan says Republican Presidents are better for economic equality between men and women. My take: These articles are completely persuasive, as long…

  • Chill

    H/T: Ta-Nehisi Coates No related posts.

  • Not Blinking

    My sister sez: I wish someone would make the point that, if you don't blink, you get a lot of sand in your eyes. Seems like that would make it kind of hard to see "the facts on the ground." Related posts: Ah: The Republicans Banned Earmarks! To claim “objectivism” at 20 is predictable. To…

  • Polling the Pollster Pollers: Obama Still Strong

    Update: If you're looking for conservative polling, click here. I've been meaning to put together a post for a while now on the metanalysis sites: the top-feeders one level above pollster.com, realclearpolitics, electoral-vote and the like (who aggregate and average recent polls)–outfits that run statistical crunchers on the polls, and spit out what everyone wants…

  • Everything Sez: “Obama Landslide.” What Gives?

    Update: If you're looking for conservative polling, click here. We all know that national polls tell us nothing about what's gonna happen in November. (See, for instance, this very funny post.) But still. The national polls seem way out of synch with every other indicator. Obama and McCain have been nearly tied for months (with…

  • Pro-Growth Republicans Revisited

    In comments on my recent post–which discusses how the economy performs (much) better under Democratic presidents–my friend Steve uses a few different rather familiar arguments to undercut the import of the facts imparted therein. He claims first that presidents don’t have any effect on taxes and such–that congress controls the purse strings. But he acknowledges…

  • Tax-Cutting Republicans? Get Real

    Put aside for the moment the current Republican presidential candidate’s tax plan, which imposes higher taxes on 250 million Americans than the Democratic candidate’s plan. The simple fact is–as innumerable sages (at least since Adam Smith) have pointed out–spending is taxing. Three choices (laid out very nicely by Brad DeLong): Raise taxes in the future.…

  • Inequality is Bad Because it Hurts the Republican Brand

    I thought I'd pointed this out in a previous post, but apparently not. When you hear Republicans speaking negatively of America's extreme and growing inequality, it's only because it might hurt their brand and their electoral prospects. David Frum is the poster child. In this week's NYT Magazine, he's nice enough make my point for…

  • Even Fox Sez McCain’s Lying About Taxes

    Major Garrett: McCain’s TV commercials assailing Obama’s tax policy contain serious distortions, if not out-right lies. On Aug. 8, FactCheck.org, published this report on a spate of new McCain TV spots on Obama and taxes. Read it here: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/more_tax_deceptions.html That report followed one in July that raised similar concerns about the truthfulness of the McCain…

  • Pro-Growth Republicans? Get Real

    Republicans like to claim that they’re the party of growth and prosperity. Even though all the facts say otherwise. I’ve pointed out repeatedly that when you compare a lot of developed countries over decades, you see that lower taxes and smaller government don’t result in faster growth. Tax cuts are an effective vote-buying political pander…

  • Mankiw Endorses Obama, Slams Palin

    The former chair of Bush II's Council of Economic Advisors, in his manifesto, Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club (pdf): "It is not a stretch to believe that more thought about an issue leads to more reliable conclusions." Okay well, not explicitly. And in any case he does contradict this sentiment…

  • Corruption: Are Pubs Worse than Dems?

    My friend Steve can’t resist taking a somewhat tangential jab at me regarding corruption: Dems versus Pubs. For those who aren’t in the know, he and I have had this conversation already, and after looking at his evidence, I found myself hard-pressed to argue that in the legislative branch, over decades, the Pubs are necessarily…

  • Obama and Small Business Cap Gains: Where’s the Beef?

    My friend Steve Broback asks a very good question: Obama says he will: …eliminate all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. This is all that’s mentioned about this elusive break in the “Barack Obama’s Plan For Small Business” PDF on his site. I don’t understand. Where and…

  • Peggy Noonan’s Right: It’s Over

    What do they really think? Caught on open mikes yesterday, three top political analysts–including two being long-time top Republican operatives–said what they really think about the Palin choice ("cynical"), and about McCain's prospects following that choice. The money quote, from Peggy Noonan: "It's over." Peggy's right. On fivethirtyeight.com, Obama's odds of winning have gone from…

  • More Great Minds: Lincoln on “Conservatives”

    From the Cooper Union speech. Emphasis mine. “But you say you are conservative – eminently conservative – while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the…

  • Palin for President: Be Afraid

    I guess John McCain will do anything to (try to) win an election. He’ll even saddle his country with a president who knows nothing about foreign or military affairs. While we’re fighting two wars. I’ll just point to my previous post. Related posts: Insurgents surging in from inside and outside Why nominating Clinton would be…

  • McCain: Rebel Without a Brand?

    My 17-year-old daughter just pointed out to me something that's completely obvious, but that I hadn't realized, and that I haven't seen discussed much, at least in these terms. Think about the words Hope. Change. Yes We Can. Who owns 'em? I mean owns them? When you think Obama, what words come to mind? When…