November 15, 2011

The Occupiers, Unoccupied

November 15, 2011 Buck Banks

The place didn’t have anywhere to go potty,
And after three months, it was starting to get grotty.
But when police came with billy clubs
And sani-workers came with soapy suds,
There was nothing left but to say, “So long, Zuccoti!”

Odds of 2012 Recession Top 50 Percent

November 15, 2011November 15, 2011 Buck Banks

+50%

Odds of a U.S. recession by early 2012, due to the European debt crisis, according to new research from the Federal Reserve, reports Reuters.

One Percenters Receive $30 Billion from Uncle Sam Annually

November 15, 2011 Buck Banks

$30 billion

Amount in government largesse received by Americans earning more than $1 million each year, according to a new congressional analysis. To put it in perspective, the $30 billion in handouts amounts to twice as much as the government spends on NASA, and three times the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. However, it would only cover the cost of fighting about three months in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, eliminating them would help make a small dent in the $1.5 trillion congressional leaders are trying to find by Thanksgiving.

Gingrich Attributes His Sudden Support in Polls to Toughness

November 15, 2011November 15, 2011 Buck Banks

If you’re not tough enough to withstand this kind of scrutiny, you’re sure not tough enough to be President of the United States.

— Newt Gingrich, in a Fox News interview, saying his support “clicked” because Republicans “want someone who can debate Obama.”

Drezner Invokes the ‘Mercy Rule’ on Covering Cain

November 15, 2011 Buck Banks

There’s a mercy rule in Little League, and I’m applying it here — unless and until Herman Cain surges back in the polls again, or manages to muster something approaching cogency in his foreign policy statements, there’s no point in blogging about him anymore. I can only pick on an ignoramus so many times before it feels sadistic.

— Daniel Drezner, writing in Foreign Policy, has had enough, following Herman Cain’s bumbling answer on Libya.

The answer in question: “President Obama called for the removal of Gaddafi. Just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say, yes I agree, I know I didn’t agree. I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason — no, that’s a different one. I gotta go back to… Got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically, what are you asking me, did I agree or not disagree with on what?

Day: November 15, 2011

The Occupiers, Unoccupied

Odds of 2012 Recession Top 50 Percent

+50%

Odds of a U.S. recession by early 2012, due to the European debt crisis, according to new research from the Federal Reserve, reports Reuters.

One Percenters Receive $30 Billion from Uncle Sam Annually

$30 billion

Tweet

Gingrich Attributes His Sudden Support in Polls to Toughness

If you’re not tough enough to withstand this kind of scrutiny, you’re sure not tough enough to be President of the United States.

— Newt Gingrich, in a Fox News interview, saying his support “clicked” because Republicans “want someone who can debate Obama.”

Drezner Invokes the ‘Mercy Rule’ on Covering Cain

— Daniel Drezner, writing in Foreign Policy, has had enough, following Herman Cain’s bumbling answer on Libya.

— Herman Cain, struggling to collect his thoughts in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which was recorded on video.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

A new Fox News Poll finds 71% of voters think the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the Iran War, including 95% of Democrats, 83% of independents, and 43% of Republicans. Sixty percent say U.S. military action against Iran was the wrong decision, while just 37% say it was right.

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.