Jay Bookman

"Gee, I really wish they wouldn't do that."

One of Mitt Romney’s biggest challenges as the Republican nominee will be trying to suppress the strain of brain-eating crazy that has infected parts of his party and the conservative movement. He can’t reject it directly — he has neither the political standing nor the strength to do so — but he also can’t let it poison his campaign in the minds of independents and moderates.

But it’s not going to be easy.

Yesterday, for example, Romney was forced to repudiate a proposed ad campaign by a GOP SuperPAC that would have focused on President Obama’s ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, suggesting that Obama is in some vague way “anti-white.”

To his credit, and to the credit of John McCain before him, Romney wanted nothing to do with such an approach, which was to have been funded by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. Part of his rejection is pure pragmatism: Romney, like McCain, understands that such an approach would be politically …

Continue reading The ‘Obama-hates-America-and-hates-white-people’ industry »

Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, is campaigning around the state for passage of the regional transportation tax. He is also helping to raise private contributions to fund voter outreach in support of the plan.

And he’s not alone.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, also a Republican, has hit the speaking circuit as well, warning that the state cannot simply cut its way to prosperity but instead must be willing to invest in itself in order to grow. Passage of the TSPLOST, he says, is critical to that growth.

U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, also Republicans, have also expressed public support for passage of the TSPLOST, which if approved by voters in July will impose a one-penny sales tax for 10 years to build transportation infrastructure.

Think about that: The four most high-profile Republican officeholders in Georgia — all four of whom have signed the infamous pledge to oppose “any and all efforts to increase taxes” — have expressed public support for a tax hike. In the case …

Continue reading Weird news of the day: Top Ga. Republicans back major tax hike »

You almost needed to be there.

– Jay Bookman

Continue reading Donna Summer, 1948-2012 »

From the Washington Post:

For the first time in U.S. history, most of the nation’s babies are members of minority groups, according to new census figures that signal the dawn of an era in which whites no longer will be in the majority.

Population estimates show that 50.4 percent of children younger than 1 last year were Hispanic, black, Asian American or in other minority groups. That’s almost a full percentage point higher than the 49.5 percent of minority babies counted when the decennial census was taken in April 2010. Census Bureau demographers said the tipping point came three months later, in July….

“Eventually, when the economy returns, we’re going to get more immigrants, maybe not from Mexico but from other parts of the world,” (William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution) said. Without so many youthful immigrants, he added, the United States would look more like Japan, with its disproportionate share of elderly citizens.

“We were already …

Continue reading A demographic tipping point? No, a mere statistical blip »

With a net worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion, venture capitalist Nick Hanauer is very successful at what he does. Among other smart moves, he was an early investor in Amazon.

Like many of his peers, Hanauer has strong opinions about the wisdom of taxing the rich and the importance of what have come to be called “job creators.” Here’s part of what he had to say on the subject in a recent speech (full text available here):

“I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a “circle of life”-like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this …

Continue reading Let’s unleash the true power of the job creators! »

If I had the chance to ask Mitt Romney just one question at a debate or press conference, it would be pretty simple and straightforward:

“How do your economic policies differ from those that were championed by George W. Bush for eight years?”

I’ve read Romney’s economic platform and position statements and have followed his public statements closely. I am not aware of any position taken by the former Massachusetts governor that deviates in any substantive way from the policies pursued under He Would Must Not Be Blamed.

If that is incorrect, I would be happy to be corrected.

The same is true of foreign policy. That shouldn’t be surprising, I suppose, given that Romney’s foreign-policy team is dominated by former acolytes of Dick Cheney. But in both cases, Romney has yet to explain to the American people why almost identical policies to be pursued by an almost identical cast of characters will produce a different outcome this time.

– Jay Bookman

Continue reading On policy, what distinguishes Mitt from George W.? »

“When the men and women who settled the Iowa prairie saw a fire in the distance, they didn’t look around for someone else to save them or go back to sleep hoping the wind might blow another direction. They knew that their survival was up to them. A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act that fire gets closer to the homes and children we love.”

– Mitt Romney, campaigning in Iowa Tuesday

So I have a few questions:

Would Mitt Romney — he with $250 million in estimated wealth, the $100 million trust fund set aside for his sons and the $21 million in investment income last year alone — accept paying higher taxes as just PART of a larger national effort to stop this “prairie fire of debt” that threatens our nation’s survival?

Of course, nobody expects them to stop the fire on their own. They’re going to need a lot of help, and government spending is of course going to have to be cut. But given the apparent severity of this …

Continue reading Will Romney help to fight ‘prairie fire of debt’? »

Tracy Thorne-Begland

Driven by what he calls “a sense of service to your country for a higher purpose,” Tracy Thorne-Begland served for 20 years as a Navy fighter pilot. Following an honorable discharge and after earning his law degree, the married father of two has worked as a prosecutor for the last 12 years in Richmond, Va.

Earlier this year, Thorne-Begland was nominated to become a district court judge in Richmond, a position that requires confirmation by the Virginia General Assembly. His sponsor in the House of Delegates, a Republican from Richmond, calls him “absolutely well-qualified” for the judgeship.

“He’s been doing his job and he’s been doing it well. He’s been protecting us from criminals,” Delegate Manoli Loupassi said. “I have known this man for a very long time and I believe that he absolutely will carry out the duties of his office in a dignified way and a correct way.”

Last night, however, Thorne-Begland’s nomination was rejected, falling 18 votes short of …

Continue reading What’s a (gay) guy gotta do to get some respect? »

The U.S. Senate, supposedly “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” has all but ceased to function. Judges aren’t being confirmed, executive appointments aren’t approved and basic legislation cannot be passed because of egregious abuse of the filibuster.

The situation has become intolerable. When a new Senate convenes in January, it ought to adopt proposed reforms that would make a filibuster much harder to invoke and sustain, and that would require it be done much more publicly.

Those changes ought to be made regardless of which party controls the Senate.

Until now, Senate leaders of both parties have balked at trying to reform the filibuster rule, in part out of a misplaced sense of tradition. However, there is nothing traditional in how the filibuster is now being abused. There is nothing in Senate tradition — and certainly nothing in the U.S. Constitution — that requires a 60-vote majority to pass even routine legislation. But as the chart below illustrates, that has …

Continue reading Senate filibuster makes Washington unaccountable »

Tighter sanctions imposed on Iran are having a serious effect, the Washington Post reports. They’re having trouble selling their oil or getting it to market, and without oil revenues, the entire Iranian economy is threatened, as is the ability of the fundamentalist regime to maintain its grip on power:

As The Post reports:

An (International Energy Agency) report issued Friday said Iranian crude output was still relatively high, at 3.3 million barrels a day in April, down slightly from last year. But the agency said much of Iran’s unsold production is ending up in onshore and floating storage.

Estimates of Iranian crude added to floating storage in March and April have ranged from 450,000 to 800,000 barrels a day, the IEA said. An additional 20 million to 25 million barrels have been added to onshore storage facilities in recent months.

While countries such as Turkey and South Africa appear to have ramped up imports from Iran ahead of the July 1 sanctions deadline, some …

Continue reading Sanctions putting real crunch on Iranian leadership »