Open Thread

10 Comments

1. 

   ejmw on October 10, 2007 at 10:39 am

   I hope you at least caught Brownback’s quote of the night, which had me and my friend cracking up for about 5 minutes.

   

   • 

     Man Eegee on October 10, 2007 at 11:24 am

     You’re terrible.  Have a four.

2. 

   Melanchthon on October 10, 2007 at 10:42 am

   Buyout Firms to Avoid a Tax Hike – washingtonpost.com

   Buyout Firms to Avoid a Tax Hike Reid Passes Word Senate Won’t Act

   Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has told private-equity firms in recent weeks that a tax-hike proposal they have spent millions of dollars to defeat will not get through the Senate this year, according to executives and lobbyists.

   Reid’s assurance all but ends the year’s highest-profile battle over a major tax increase. Democratic lawmakers, including some presidential candidates, had been pushing to more than double the tax rate on the massive earnings of private-equity managers, who the Democrats say have been chronically undertaxed.

   In response, private-equity firms — whose multibillion-dollar deals have created a class of superwealthy investors and taken some of America’s large corporations private — hired dozens of lobbyists, stepped up campaign contributions and lined up business allies to wage an unusually conspicuous lobbying blitz. Their argument was that higher taxes would run counter to accepted tax policy and slow economic growth.

   • 

     anarchronarchist on October 10, 2007 at 10:44 am

     And Democratic Party Shakedown of fatcats… complete.

3. 

   BooMan on October 10, 2007 at 11:42 am

   when Tom Friedman starts calling for shrillness in the young, you know things are getting bad.  But look at those Dow Jones numbers…whooey!

4. 

   eodell on October 10, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   Fred Thompson? Meh. He simply doesn’t have what it takes to play at this level. I can’t believe that I’m actually going to use a football analogy, but the first thing Thompson’s entry into presidential politics makes me think of is the disastrous experience of Steve Spurrier leaving a successful coaching job in the SEC to try his hand at coaching in the NFL. Thompson’s attempt to run a presidential campaign will go about as well.

   If he manages to get the nomination, I will almost feel sorry for him as the Democratic nominee screws him into the ground during the debates. The only reason he’s made it this far is that he has carefully avoided showing up for debates with candidates in his own party.

5. 

   BooMan on October 10, 2007 at 12:21 pm

   This is an interesting piece of history.

   • 

     Melanchthon on October 10, 2007 at 12:46 pm

     At birth his mother was convinced he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and refused to cut his hair or send him to school. He talked to other people in a loud voice and was not very well-liked.

     That reminded me of John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany…

6. 

   dada on October 10, 2007 at 2:47 pm

   chimpy lays the veto threat on FISA over telecom retro-immunity:

   President Bush said Wednesday that he will not sign a new eavesdropping bill if it does not grant retroactive immunity to U.S. telecommunications companies that helped conduct electronic surveillance without court orders.

   A proposed bill unveiled by Democrats on Tuesday does not include such a provision. Bush, appearing on the South Lawn as that measure was taken up in two House committees, said the measure is unacceptable for that and other reasons.

   “Today the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees are considering a proposed bill that instead of making the Protect America Act permanent would take us backward,” the president said…

   link

   and congress responds:

   …Shortly after he spoke, the House Judiciary Committee voted 21-14 to reject an amendment sought by the White House that would shield telecommunications firms retroactively from lawsuits for participating in a secret warrantless eavesdropping program launched after the September 11 attacks.

   The proposed legislation would protect the firms from future lawsuits provided they comply with the law but not from pending suits.

   […]

   …Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said the liability issue should be a court matter. “Let the courts decide whether these companies, or some of them, were acting patriotically with nobility and legally, or if they were breaking the law.”

   link

   who’ll blink first?

   lTMF’sA

   

7. 

   dada on October 10, 2007 at 6:30 pm

   this fred thompson:

   Dumb but friendly: Good for a dog, not so much for a president

   In June 1973, White House counsel Fred Buzhardt tells Nixon that the White House has developed “a pretty good rapport” with Thompson, who “came through fine for us this morning.”

       Nixon: “He isn’t very smart, is he?“

       Buzhardt: “Not extremely so, but –“

       Nixon: “But he’s friendly.”

       Buzhardt: “But he’s, he’s friendly.”

       Nixon: “Good.”

   salon war room

   har!