The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to put new restrictions on the credit card industry ... The vote was 90 to 5.

I wonder what, say, a 62-38 bill would have looked like ...

Krugman offers the Quote of the Day: "Look for the golden age of conservative intellectualism in America, and you keep going back, and back, and back -- and eventually you run up against William Buckley in the 1950s declaring that blacks weren't advanced enough to vote, and that Franco was the savior of Spanish civilization."

The really funny thing is that Buckley all but rejected most of the modern republican's belief systems. He critized the war in Iraq (and most other Neocon fantisies) and decried the anti-intellectualism of the religious right. If William Buckley appeared on the scene today many Republican leaders would denounce him outright.

It's worth noting that most of his successors (including his son) ended up endorsing Obama.

The Republican National Committee could potentially take a very bold, politically momentous move tomorrow. I am speaking, of course, about the upcoming vote on a resolution to declare that the Democratic Party should be renamed the "Democrat Socialist Party."

Repugnican Nazi Coalition, anyone?

I wonder what, say, a 62-38 bill would have looked like ...

No kidding. 90-5 what naming a building gets. It's a clear indication that no one will be inconvenienced by the change. And no one will benefit.

It could have been better, but it's not a bad bill

Yeah, it could have better...in more ways than one.

One of its add-ons is allowing loaded guns in national parks. Thanks, 27 Democrats who voted for this amendment. Thanks so fucking much.

Does anyone else think it ironic that Pete Hoekstra, who is leading the outrage about Pelosi saying she was mislead by the CIA, is the same Hoekstra that made the complaint against the CIA for misleading the public, and that complaint is being investigated right now. Also he is the one who requested the memo of the briefings (the one that was made up from memory) This is one shady republican. Perhaps he should resign for accusing the CIA of misleading!

You can bet the credit card companies and banks will get the money back somehow, probably by bringing back annual fees and such.

Warning: That Michael Steele article is in the Washington Times, and comes with a barrage of pop-up ads that locked up my browser.

Why would it cost $80M to close Gitmo?

Why is it so hard for people to believe the CIA lied to Nancy Pelosi.

DCIA Tenet told Bush the WMD intelligence was a slam dunk. He was also involved in vetting the intelligence information that went into Colin Powell's notorious speech to the United Nations.

Bush, Cheney, and several members of their cabal are alsways quick to justify their fuck up by saying the intelligence on Iraq WMD was wrong. Passing the buck to analyst and CIA personel.

Now Republicant members of congress are outraged that Pelosi would impugn the integrity and professionalism of the brave men and women who serve in the intelligence community. Valerie Plame was one of those brave women. WHere is their outrage for her being compromised by Cheney and Rove?

Am i the only one who thinks there is something wrong with Lou Dobbs? And not in the "he's crazy way", which he obviously is. I can't help but think of the game show host in the movie "Magnolia", struggling over every sentence, unable to read or remember. Is lou going to collapse on air?

Kevin (@6:17), I was thinking more of the lead in "Memento" who can't remember the past for more than a few minutes.

"This change comes in a tea bag."
- Michael Steele.

I mean, you can't make this shit up!
Jon Stewart should have to give back some of his salary. This is just too fucking easy.

Bachmann is such a lightweight hack. By her flawed reasoning, if a member of the Peace Corps, Doctors Without Borders, Boys and Girls Clubs or Teach for America were indicted, not convicted, indicted, then the entire organization would lose crtical federal funding. What a dumb ass.

Warning: That Michael Steele article is in the Washington Times, and comes with a barrage of pop-up ads that locked up my browser.

Posted by: The Fabulous Mr. Toad on May 19, 2009 at 5:50 PM

Yeah, locked up your liberal browser. You were probably just going to use it to post something mean about W. at DailyKos and shop for Volvos anyway.

Yeah, locked up your liberal browser

His liberal hemp browser.

Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, the new American ambassador to Afghanistan

With active duty military officers also serving as ambassadors, the US has taken another step toward militarization.

* Rumsfeld doesn't seem pleased with the GQ piece.

So, he's a fucking war criminal. Who gives a shit if he's pleased.

So Harry Reid signed on to the Republican argument that no Gitmo detainee can ever be put into a jail on American soil.

Without question, I would sacrifice Reid's seat to a Republican in 2010 for the opportunity to get a real Democrat as majority leader. That is, anyone other than Bayh or Nelson, or Blanche Lincoln...or Feinstein...oh, crap...go Russ!

ditto, bruce.

as for pelosi, i think it hilarious that the republics (sic) think they're upsetting democrats by calling for her resignation.

as a democrat, i wanted pelosi out as majority leader a month after she was given the job

With active duty military officers also serving as ambassadors, the US has taken another step toward militarization.

Eikenberry's retired. Sometimes even retired Lt. General's have actual expertise!

And I have next to no use for Pelosi (although she's better than Reid by miles), but how on Earth people can believe, even for a second, that the CIA doesn't lie to Congress are really too stupid to breathe.

Steve, Glenn Beck is so loopy and paranoid.

On the "ED show" this was illuminated quite clearly
with the example Ed gave that Beck compared the famous quote "In Germany I did not speak out" (it goes on,and everyone should be aware of it).

It was about the need to realize we are all in this together and as such, when an horrific injustice happens, we must take a stand. For ourselves and others.

He completely distorted this important quote-- and tried to apply it to the current situation, wherein he apparently views anyone who parts from
Obama's policies are doomed.

All that oppose Obama are somehow on the 'list'-- to be exterminated???

This is so ludicrous, so preposterous, so over the top that it would be funny if it weren't a paid pundit who gets to espouse this stuff.

This is really stooping low: It's Cheney like int that it's fear mongering, stupidity and exploitation of anxious/paranoid thoughts to the extreme.

Based on a very wrong-headed interpretation of the original quote, which seeks to remind us we are all in this together and need to find common ground.

His comments attempt to do nothing but divide us even more.

And really sad, really pathetic.

Just caught a link to Jesse Ventura on the View saying if he was prez, he would prosecute those who tortured and those who ordered it (plus a couple other clips of him taking it to Fux News). Not sure if I'm asking too much of stem cell research, but sure would be nice if it's possible to grow Jesse Balls for those politicians with a "D" after their name. Wouldn't hurt to clones brains for the other crowd, either.

If Rummy's underling considers Draper a gossip columnist, what does that make everyone on Fox news?

Unless someone convinces me someone else deserves the credit, I think Pelosi pulled off one of the biggest political coups in the last few years with TARP. After 8 years of disasterous Republican economic policy, Paulson called for 700B to inject capital into the banking system. 535 members of congress knew it was an absolute must-do, but Republicans decided they could vote against it and blame the Dems for wasting the money. Pelosi said Dems would not do it alone, and when Reps voted against it, she allowed, if not instructed enough Dems to do the same, killing the bill temporarily, and causing the Dow to crash. Republicans got the blame, and then had to pass it. Had she simply rammed it through, Dems would have been blamed for every problem with TARP, and all those bad policies would have been forgiven as Republicans would have simply said the free market would have solved the problem instead of adding to it.

Lance almost says the dirty U word while on tour in Italy...

Brilliant stuff from Mr. Armstrong. If there has been a more cogent and terse argument made for the necessity of a union, I haven't see it. Effective now: He can no longer be a member in Limbaugh's republican party.

Here is the video.
Here is a copy and paste of the most impressive moment:

"We absolutely have to have a fully independent riders organization that represents our interests," Armstrong said. "So if there are going to be circuits or there are going to be finishes that we as riders get to have the right to say that this is safe or this is not safe or this we'll do or this we won't do.

"Without that organization that represents our voices as a unified front, not as a splintered front, we will have this problem forever."

Hillary Clinton is looking for $110 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Pakistan.

Glad to see that. Pushing the Pakistan Army to make 1.2 million refugees is no way to create friends where we desperately need some. More here.

William Buckley also advocated tattoeing HIV patients

Lentz said that Toyota passenger cars already average just three miles a gallon less than the target the Obama administration set yesterday for new 2016 cars. "I'm fairly comfortable on the passenger-car side," he said. "The challenge for us will be light trucks. Their average now is 24 miles per gallon, and the number to get to is going to be 30. So there is a lot of work to be done on the light trucks."

oops. I meant to include this as well:

Ford, whose Hybrid Escape is one of a handful of vehicles on the road today that already meet the 2016 standards, yesterday announced that it had started production of new EcoBoost engines at a Cleveland plant that had been idled in 2007 and that Ford spent $55 million retooling. The new engines combine turbo-charging with direct gasoline injection to deliver up to 20 percent improved fuel economy and 15 percent less carbon dioxide emissions while preserving the performance of larger engines, Ford said. The company said it would deliver "the power of a V-8 with the fuel economy of a V-6."

This supports the contention of Secular Animist that the standards are behind the technology. On the other hand, the standards are now the law, uniform, agreed, and achievable. It will be somewhat costly and time-consuming to retool all the factories, as illustrated in the quote. Then after some graceful period of time the standards can be raised.

Plug-in electric hybrids with TDI diesel or ethanol/gasoline mix should do very well, once everybody has experience with them. Now they are mostly for car experts.