Today’s links to interesting news and analysis, collected from around the Internet. If you find this useful, pass it to a friend or colleague.
- America will mature beyond adolescence when we learn to weigh risks, like adults: “One Million Ways to Die“, Ryan Singel, 11 September 2006
- This will have no effect on conservatives, happy with their faux-economics: “Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output as of September 2009“, Congressional Budget Office, November 2009
- They will not believe this either: “Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October 2009 Through December 2009“, Congressional Budget Office, February 2010 — For an nicely written summary see this on the CBO Director’s Blog.
- Today’s must-read: “LA school’s Dance of the Lemons“, LA Weekly, 11 February 2010 — “Why firing the desk-sleepers, burnouts, hotheads and other failed teachers is all but impossible.” Must be read to be believed.
- “Conning the Climate: Inside the Carbon Trading Shell Game“, Mark Schapiro, Harpers Magazine, February 2010 — Free pirate copy here (while it lasts).
- It should be obvious the Democrats are toast in November unless the economy recovers: “Republican Blizzard on the Generic Ballot“, Harry Joe, Margin of Error, 21 February 2010 — Health care and wars are insignificant with 10%+ unemployment.
- Nope, no global-warming increase in hurricanes. Another doomster fable shot to hell. “Tropical cyclones and climate change“, Thomas R. Knutson et al, Nature Geoscience, 21 February 2010 — For a brief description by Roger Pielke Jr. see here.
- Bad news for thee and me: “Greece and the welfare state in ruins“, Robert J. Samuelson (journalist), op-ed in the Washington Post, 22 February 2010 — We loved it so long as we need not pay for it.
- Excellent backgrounder for the current European crisis: “Greece threatens more than the euro“, Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, 23 February 2010
Today’s Quote of the Day, by a terrorist sympathizer and member of Congress
“Rep. King (R-IA) Justifies Suicide Attack On IRS: Sympathizes With Hatred Of IRS, Hopes For Its Destruction“, Lee Fang, ThinkProgress, 22 February 2010 — Excerpt:
On Thursday, a man flew a plane into a Texas federal building in an apparent domestic terrorist attack. The suicide bomber, identified as Joseph Andrew Stack …
ThinkProgress caught up with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at CPAC to talk about the attack in Texas. Asked if the right-wing anti-tax rhetoric might have motivated the attack, King implicitly agreed, noting that he had been a leading opponent of the IRS for some time. He noted that although the attack was “sad,” “by the same token,” it was justified because once the the right succeeds at abolishing the IRS, “it’s going to be a happy day for America.” He sidestepped the question of the legitimacy of the terrorists’ grievances, but sympathized by saying that “I’ve had a sense of ‘why is the IRS in my kitchen.’ Why do they have their thumb in the middle of my back”:
TP: Do you think this attack, this terrorist attack, was motivated at all by a lot of the anti-tax rhetoric that’s popular in America right now?
KING: I think if we’d abolished the IRS back when I first advocated it, he wouldn’t have a target for his airplane. And I’m still for abolishing the IRS, I’ve been for it for thirty years and I’m for a national sales tax. … It’s sad the incident in Texas happened, but by the same token, it’s an agency that is unnecessary and when the day comes when that is over and we abolish the IRS, it’s going to be a happy day for America.
TP: So some of his grievances were legitimate?
KING : I don’t know if his grievances were legitimate, I’ve read part of the material. I can tell you I’ve been audited by the IRS and I’ve had the sense of ‘why is the IRS in my kitchen.’ Why do they have their thumb in the middle of my back. … It is intrusive and we can do a better job without them entirely.
Watch it:
