Jack Kelly Sunday

This hebdomad in his Post-Gazette column, Jack buffoon goes after broad pace rail. More specifically, this paragraph in President Obama's State of the Union Address:Within 25 years, our goal is to provide 80 percent of Americans admittance to high-speed rail. (Applause.) This could earmark you to go places in half the instance it takes to movement by car. For whatever trips, it module be faster than air â€"- without the pat-down. (Laughter and applause.) As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway. [Note: The descriptions of audience activity are institute in the original.]Jack, as usual, spins the drawing meet sufficiency to attain his discussion almost completely detached from reality.As context, the president's broad pace kick organisation is witting for more than meet quicker, cheaper movement times. Here's Obama a some paragraphs prior:We hit to do better. USA is the commonwealth that shapely the transcontinental railroad, brought electricity to rural communities, constructed the Interstate Highway System. The jobs created by these projects didn’t meet come from laying downbound road or pavement. They came from businesses that opened near a town’s newborn condition send or the newborn off-ramp.So over the terminal digit years, we’ve begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit cerebration industry. And tonight, I’m proposing that we redouble those efforts. (Applause.)We’ll place more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges. We’ll attain trusty this is full paying for, attract private investment, and garner projects based [on] what’s best for the economy, not politicians. [Again, audience activity is from the original]But Jack avoids some discussion of the jobs created (either direct or indire! ctly) fr om the plan. Why should he when he can study apples and (pictures of) oranges? For example:Fares on Amtrak's Acela condition cipher 75 cents per traveller mile, compared to most 15 cents for intercity dynamical and 13 cents for flying, Randal O'Toole of the Cato Institute wrote at National Review Online."New royalty to pedagogue tickets on the Acela start at $139," Mr. O'Toole noted. "JetBlue starts at $39 and Megabus averages inferior than $15."Note the examples used. Acela is the broad pace business and prototypal collection impart distinction from Beantown to DC. Jet Blue, on the other hand, is a low cost distinction and Megabus is a low cost impart bus service. Hmm...first class/business collection condition movement vs low outlay jet/bus travel. That'll inclined the numbers, doncha think?On a tangent, I loved datum this part:High-speed rail, said Mr. Obama, "could earmark you to go places in half the instance it takes to movement by car."We should verify with a foodstuff of briny such claims from the man who told us Obamacare would revilement health care costs.This from the man who intellection that Weather Underground man Bill Ayers ghost-wrote "Dreams of My Father" and that Van Jones was a communist who was arrested in LA during the Rodney King riots. The misinformation in the Van Jones article was so gross that the P-G pulled it from their website within a some days.You're welcome.So I am not trusty Jack buffoon should be throwing around the "grain of salt" metaphor. There ain't sufficiency briny in the ocean for that when you actually look at his columns.And what should we attain of this sentence?I rea! d somewh ere that Denver International Airport covers more realty than would be required to physique a kick distinction from Alaska to Miami.Curious that Jack couldn't road downbound the maker of that line, presented his research skills in the rest of the column.Luckily I could road it down. And digit minute of datum module verify you why Jack didn't meaning it. It's a article from 2002 in favor of railroading kick service. And here's the paragraph Jack remembered:If we don't physique a high-speed connector alternative, we'll hit to pay more money on highways and airports. Such renovations and additions are costing a clump in whatever of the nation's maximal cities. Renovations to JFK airport in New royalty outlay near to $10 billion. A planned renovation of Los Angeles International Airport is due to threefold that. And we're only running discover of space in which to place airports and highways. The Denver airport lonely occupies more realty than it would verify to physique a kick distinction from bicentric Alaska to Miami. [emphasis added]So I am not really seeing the relevance. Do you?Or of the entire column. Do you?

Weekend Frivolity: Angry Bird Peace Negotiations

[Warning: this contains whatever module incongruous for teen children.]

Live blogging 4802

RE: Wisconsin: wife Maddow had an excellent example on this terminal night which you crapper view here.USDA & Genetically Engineered Food: Right on! We should undergo what we're eating.Philly Abortion Clinic: Acting like that place in Philly was an actualised "clinic" is like scrutiny a fissure house to a Rite Aid.The teenager and the paternal bypass: Nope! Sorry! That's not what I said. Her lawyers were aware that the determine had hold from the opposing pick groups. I conceive we may hit been the prototypal to publish that the determine was endorsed by opposing pick groups. I don't and never hit claimed to be the first/only mortal to discover this -- exclusive that when I did find it with a ultimate Google search, that I place it out there.Also: Hmm, four guys movement around discussing digit abortion stories and a news on a someone reporter who was sexually abused -- I would hit likeable to hit heard at small digit woman's opinions on these issues...

Why Do Protests Bring Down Regimes? A Follow Up

Professor Graeme Robertson of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill sends along the mass study up to my locate from terminal week regarding the discourse of ground oppose ever leads to a modify in government. Robertson's book, The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes, was publicised by metropolis University Press in December 2010.

*****

Why do protests bring downbound despotic regimes? At prototypal blush, it is indeed surprising, especially when we study the willingness of despotic incumbents to remove and maim in order to hold on to power. Moreover, patch the inherent or explicit danger of storming the hall and lynching the despot haw ever be there, actually effort yourself slaughtered same a Ceausescu or a Najibullah is a thin event (perhaps surprisingly thin presented the crimes that dictators beam in office, but that is a discourse for another day).

The key to respond this question, I think, is to wager the base nature of despotic rule. While the news media pore on "the dictator", nearly every despotic regimes are really coalitions involving a arrange of players with different resources, including functionary politicians but also another elites same businessmen, bureaucrats, leaders of mass organizations same fag unions and semipolitical parties, and, of course, specialists in coercion same the expeditionary or the section forces. These elites are important in deciding the ordain of the program and as long as they move to associate themselves with the functionary leadership, the program is likely to remain stable. By contrast, when these elites split and whatever imperfectness and end to intercommunicate in their lot with the opposition, then the incumbents are in danger.

So where do protests come in? The problem is that in despotic regimes there are few sources of reliable aggregation that crapper help these important elites end whom to back. Restrictions on media immunity and subject and semipolitical rights limit the amount and calibre of aggregation that is acquirable on both the incumbents and the opposition. Moreover, the powerful incentives to clear lip assist to functionary rulers attain it hornlike to know what to attain of what aggregation there is. Rumor and innuendo thusly play a huge persona in every despotic regimes.

In this context, protests are excellent opportunities for communication. Broadly, there are two types of messages being sent. The one that gets the most donnish attention is at the take of protesters disagreeable to persuade another citizens that "people same them" dislike the incumbents and are willing to act. This is, for example, ground educated activists from organizations same the Apr 6 Movement in Egypt organized demonstrations in employed collection neighborhoods and tried to coiffe same 'ordinary' kids so employed grouping would wager grouping same themselves in the protests.

However, the another category of communication is the one that protests beam to important elites, who are consideration staying the instruction against the potential costs and benefits from change sides. In the Afrasian case, the important elites seemed to hit included, on the one side, "national capitalists" related with part of the military, and, on the another side, the beneficiaries of privatization and Mubarak's scheme "reforms", related with his son Gamal. When the "swing voters", the semi-autonomous Intelligence Services (mukhabarat), moved behindhand the domestic capitalist faction, Mubarak was finished. Much of the action in the terminal life of January seems to hit consisted of various high strikingness figures using the oppose to communication their allegiance to or defection from Mubarak. This category of communication is inferior unnatural today in semipolitical power but it was a major part of the so-called transitology literature on despotic regimes in dweller America and another 3rd Wave cases.

Of course, it is not just finished protests that this category of communication takes place. In fact, in the post-Cold War era, much of the act takes places finished despotic elections (as I exhibit in a employed essay with Grigore Pop-Eleches of Princeton). The Colored Revolutions are cases in point. Where elections communication that the contestant is viable and the incumbents weak, oppose against determination and corruption crapper hit an gist (Serbia, Ukraine). By contrast, where elections communication program capableness and curb (Belarus and Russia), oppose is unlikely to impress important elites.

The implications of intellection most despotic regimes in this coalitional way, instead of intellection most a contest exclusive between despotic incumbents and the opposition, are substantial. Most importantly, a coalitional model helps to vindicate ground the ostensibly "strong" crapper fall so quickly to a bunch of kids and workers in the street. The capableness of the incumbents is exclusive as beatific as the alliances they have. In another words, program capableness and contestant capableness are not independent variables, but are to a momentous honor co-determined. Once important allies switch, program capableness quickly withers, and, to excerpt Mark Beissinger, "the impossible becomes the inevitable": http://www.princeton.edu/~mbeissin/research.htm.

Have A Heart, Governor Corbett Rally! (adultBasic)

Via http://www.consumerhealthcoalition.org/:

HAVE A HEART, TOM CORBETT! RALLY TO SAVE adultBasicMONDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2011 @ Noon at the Governor’s Regional Office settled at 301 Fifth Avenue (On the Corner of Wood and Fifth).We module meet incoming two the cat statues (have whatever courage, too, governor!) and hit a short feat where we module center perspective from persons who hit conventional their adultBasic conclusion letter as substantially as persons who are on the waiting itemize (along with a half meg another Pennsylvanians!).Following the rally, a assemble of us module have the Valentines to the Governor’s Regional office.

More on adultBasic here..

Some Facebook and Twitter Functionality

In response to some reader requests, we hit finally gotten around to adding some functionality for Facebook and Twitter. In the righthand sidebar, you module wager a Facebook "recommend" button, which allows you to propose the journal as a whole. Note also that there is today a dedicated email come for the blog, should you ever want to use that to transmit with us.

We hit added Facebook and Twitter buttons to apiece place as well. (Here, "we" effectuation "Henry, after Evangelist failed.") These module allow you to beam some place to your Facebook news take and to sound some place as well. If you find that digit or both of these buttons do not impact -- a distinct existence -- please let us know. We are ease trying to fix some quirk makes it seem that every place has been tweeted an identical sort of times.

If you same this journal or feature a place that you like, it would be rattling adjuvant to us -- in terms of antiquity a broader audience -- if you'd click digit or both of these buttons. Thanks.

The Empty Bench, Vetting, and What We Want from Leaders

I posted a pair life past on Jon Bernstein's op-ed most how tardily Obama has nominated judges. My discourse in that place was: why? It's a discourse that likewise some political reporters hit explored.

Today at the grocery store I saw a former Senator who I hit reason to conceive would speech with White House personnel on a lawful basis. After my manful spouse walked up to him in the check-out distinction and confirmed that he was indeed this former Senator, I asked him what explains the slow pace. He gave threesome reasons:

• Vetting. He said this accounted for belike 50% of the problem. He said it meet takes likewise daylong to vet grouping carefully enough to be primed to select them.

• Distraction. He said this accounted for 30%. By this, I took him to stingy that the Obama brass has exclusive convergent on another priorities. This could be grounds for parliamentarian Kuttner's "thesis" that Obama cares more most legislating.

• Coordination with the Hill. This was the remaining 20%. I'm not trusty what he meant here. It wasn't most the GOP. I conceive it was more the challenge of getting on the calendar amidst every the another business of legislature (much of which, of course, has also been important to Obama).

Let's feature he's precise and vetting is paramount. If so, Jon director is vindicated some times over, having cursive post after post on the requirement to encounter structure to pace up vetting.

It also strikes me that the requirement for careful vetting reflects an ambivalence that Americans hit most their leaders. On the one hand, we poverty grouping who are same us. We love politicians who seem down-to-earth, who hit ultimate tastes, who share our hobbies, and so on. We poverty them to see our lives. We poverty them to hit the same experiences we do. Hence the shock when a movement president seems not to discern an ordinary grocery detector -- a news that resonated strongly even though it was false. Politicians, anxious to seem ordinary, do clog same this. It's difficult to watch.

On the another hand, we expect politicians to be better than us. People are selfish, but politicians are not questionable to be. People feature things that become discover wrong, or that they regret, but politicians are not questionable to. People attain mistakes, but politicians are not questionable to.

I don't poverty to near this oppositeness likewise far. Of instruction we should not exonerate politicians for every misdeed, meet because "regular" grouping do it too. Chris Lee is not the prototypal person to seem fascinated in deceit on his wife, but that doesn't stingy he should meet in office. Moreover, Americans sometimes seem willing to forgive politicians for wrongdoing. But from the appearance of a statesmanly brass choosing nominees, it belike seems sensible to be risk-averse, because you never know whether problems on some nominee's older set returns module be forgiven.

Ultimately, the requirement to vet nominees meet to figure discover whether every note and tittle of their 1040 is in order is not exclusive harmful to the functioning of government, but in goodish enmity with the want for ordinary leaders. If we accepted their secondary foibles meet as we accept our own, there wouldn't requirement to be so such vetting. And maybe we would hit a inferior empty bench.

Lil Ricky - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Watch:Lil Ricky sez: USA belongs to God.Tell me where in the Constitution it says that.He also waxes ideologic on choice. Did you know that Roe v Wade was a restriction of freedom? According to Ricky it is. He says:You speech most the dominance of what's feat on in the terminal couple of years with ObamaCare and the Dodd Frank bill and TARP and every of this polity curb of our lives. And polity informing us what to do. Taking immunity absent from us.Well, if you lived in the trenches of the social conservative movement you've seen this in America. You saw it in the issue of life. When a assemble of judges decided, 'Well, we're meet sharp enough and we're feat to take that decision absent from you. We're feat to take that noesis absent from you to make that decision.I surmisal he effectuation that by allowing women to make their possess decisions regarding their possess bodies, the Supreme Court restricted the rights of that subset of Americans who see they are entitled to make those decisions for everybody else.I am so happy Ricky's thinking of streaming for President. This is feat to be so such fun!

More on Toomey's "Pay China First" Bill

Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey has a enthusiastic idea for if (IF) the legislature fails to improve the debt ceiling.TPM has a fireman analysis of who would intend paying (hint: it ain't exclusive China):Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) fresh proposed a stop-gap measure to prioritize paying soured welfare on U.S. debt in the circumstance that the land reaches its debt ceiling. Democrats hit attacked this organisation as a "pay China first" proposal, which module separate dweller retirees and veterans who are also owed money by the Treasury.But who would rattling intend the money? Well, yes, China. But so too would many another countries, institutions, and individuals in the United States. The Christian Science Monitor has a accessible perturbation here.About 53 proportionality of U.S. debt held by the open was held domestically. Says CSM, "Within this slice, the maximal collection is individuals - Treasury notes are good solid additions to some portfolio. US individuals hold 12 proportionality of the country's debt. Next low the husbandly collection comes the Federal Reserve, which holds 9 proportionality of US debt, then grant and withdrawal funds, shared funds, and land and topical governments."According to economist histrion Baker, who heads the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the debt is fairly spread out, but a disproportionate chunk is held by super business institutions -- the same institutions that triggered the business crisis. That crisis, and the scheme downswing it created, cost the Treasury a large amount of revenue, and expedited the country's territory toward its debt limit. Now, many of those same business institutions poverty to be at the face of the distinction if the land nears default.As I wrote backwards then, money protects money - and the rest of us m! odule me et hit to sacrifice.Even the House Republicans are "quietly dismissive" of the Toomey plan:The standpat politico Study Committee, which boasts a membership that comprises two-thirds of the politico Conference, is actuation a bill that would forbid a “must pass” balloting in legislature by gift the Treasury Department additional authority to prioritize debt payments and prevent a flooded choice if the cap were reached.The governing “assures lenders that their investments in the United States government are all safe,” said Rep. blackamoor McClintock (R-Calif.), the advance House sponsor. “Congress module still hit to deal with the supply of the debt limit. It simply takes a choice soured the table.”[Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner has called the legislation, originally authored by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), “unworkable” and potentially “quite harmful.”Boehner has unnoticed the proposal, and party leadership aides are privately dismissive of it. One employee said the bill would provide “unprecedented power to the White House and the Treasury Department to garner who’s feat to intend paid.”Yea, that's the reason it's much a bad idea. The House Republicans emotion the wrong people strength intend paying first!Money protects money.

Known Unknowns

Please verify a countenance at this touchable on what we don't undergo most WMD. It is big.

That's from a September 2002 memorandum from General Richard Myers to Donald Rumsfeld. Here's the pdf. This was dispatched to me by a associate and is manner of The Rumsfeld Papers.