Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Tag: john mccain

  • Economist Readers: Obama Landslide

    Yeah, The Economist endorsed Obama. They're sane; what else could they do? But it's their readers' endorsement that really speaks volumes. It's true that people who read The Economist are a bunch of effete intellectual elitists. You think Sarah Palin has ever cracked its socialist covers? Not likely, toots. But still. They are probably the…

  • McCain’s Big Stick

    Sad. What a missed setup: Senator McCain, I’m glad you mentioned that line from Teddy Roosevelt. Because that’s exactly the point. The reason we can’t address the problems in Afghanistan, the reason we can’t act in desperate moral situations like Darfur and Congo, is because, quite simply: The big stick is in use. And because of all the big…

  • Gaming McCain’s Game

    Some people think the McCain bailout/debate maneuvering has positioned him to trap Obama: McCain's way out? – First Read – msnbc.com. So what if McCain shows up and tonight and says, ""I'm sorry I couldn't sign on to this Washington-Wall Street plan that I worried was putting an even bigger burden on taxpayers than this…

  • The Palin “Bounce”

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  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Hillary: It’s Over. Obama: It’s McCain, Stupid. Ignore Hillary.

    I actually mean no disrespect to my preferred candidate, or to Hillary, neither of whom who is anything like stupid. Just misquoting Carville. 1. As Mark Schmitt points out,  there’s no way Hillary will get a lead in the popular vote. (Andrew Sullivan: “The logic behind this seems inescapable to me.”) 2. As I pointed…