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   Read the story and see the video discussion by the authors about why creeping consolidation is crushing American livelihoods.
 Career colleges and the paper of record face off.
 A forensic tool renowned for exonerating the innocent may actually be putting them in prison.
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December 7, 2009
LIKE A STEELE TRAP.... As precarious as the economic recovery is, there is ample evidence of incremental progress. Thanks to government intervention, job losses are better, economic growth is stronger, confidence is higher, and the entire system that was on the brink of collapse is more stable. With that in mind, when it comes to commentary on the economy, leaders of the Republican Party have three broad options: 1) apologize for their near-catastrophic failures and for opposing the same measures that helped clean up their mess; 2) thank the policymakers responsible for preventing a depression; or 3) say nothing and change the subject. And yet, there's Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele with another Politico op-ed -- his fifth piece for the publication since May -- pretending to know what he's talking about.
Well, actually, in our reality, President Obama and congressional Democrats did bolster our economy with more spending and finance the rescue with debt. That was the point. Millions of jobs have been lost because of the recession the president inherited -- from Steele's buddies in the last administration -- and which the stimulus is helping address. Blaming Obama for job losses is like blaming the fire department for the arsonist's blaze. What's more, while it's obviously not easy to work our way out of the deep recession Republicans left for Democrats to address, the president's strategy has been very effective. Steele's piece then turns its attention to killing health care reform, which he says would "increase our health care premiums" (the opposite is true), "raise taxes on small businesses and the middle class" (the opposite is true), and would cost too much (in reality, reform lowers the deficit and is arguably the most ambitious cost-cutting bill ever considered by Congress). The RNC chairman adds, "If our economy is still struggling next year, shouldn't we invest that trillion bucks into creating jobs?" This is simply baffling. In one paragraph, Steele insists government investment hasn't and can't create jobs. In another paragraph, in the same piece, Steele thinks we can improve the economy by spending $1 trillion on job creation? Steele goes on to argue that health care reform might be bad for the economy. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming, but to bolster his case, the RNC head points to ... nothing in particular. He just asserts that reform "could be a burden on our economy and put a strain on American job makers." Why Politico publishes this nonsense, as opposed to simply letting Steele post it to the RNC blog, is unclear. Why Politico has published five op-eds from Steele since the summer is even harder to justify. —Steve Benen 2:55 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (16)Comments
Why Politico publishes this nonsense, as opposed to simply letting Steele post it to the RNC blog, is unclear. Why Politico has published five op-eds from Steele since the summer is even harder to justify. I have to assume you're being ingenuous, since it's well known that Politico is the "respectable" face of the Republican Party media machine. Yeah, keep bugging Politico to publish OEs from Tim Kaine etc. (mild as they'd be.) Posted by: neil b on December 7, 2009 at 3:08 PM | PERMALINKWhy should Politico stop being the web tool of the GOP? Short of perhaps one person at Politico, they always publish any bullshit the GOP wants to throw out there. Fox-fucking-lite. Posted by: MsJoanne on December 7, 2009 at 3:18 PM | PERMALINKI'm pleased to see you repeatedly calling Politico out for what it is. Now, if we could stop seeing Politico quoted in your daily roundup with anything other than ridicule... Posted by: shortstop on December 7, 2009 at 3:23 PM | PERMALINKHEY! You losers... POLITICO ARE PULITZER NOW! So that means Michael Steele is Pulitzer material. You need to stfu...the Villagers rule... Posted by: neill on December 7, 2009 at 3:28 PM | PERMALINKi'm sure humpty was talking about stimulating the economy and job creation thru $1 trillion in tax cuts, not actual government spending. Despite America's obvious economic crisis and the failure of their huge spending to correct it, President Obama and Congressional Democrats still tell us they can inflate our economy with more spending and overcome our problems with more debt. Despite the gigantic forest fire and the failure of their huge firefighting effort to so far control it, the fire department still tell us they can fight the fire with more water and with setting counterfires.... Posted by: Stefan on December 7, 2009 at 3:35 PM | PERMALINK"Why Politico publishes this nonsense, as opposed to simply letting Steele post it to the RNC blog, is unclear. Why Politico has published five op-eds from Steele since the summer is even harder to justify." Mr. Benen Here, let me put a little lemon juice on that. Via DKos: POLITICO named to Pulitzer Board http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30296.html Posted by: burro on December 7, 2009 at 3:46 PM | PERMALINKSorry neill, I got sidetracked and didn't see your comment. Posted by: burro on December 7, 2009 at 3:48 PM | PERMALINKWhy Politico publishes this nonsense? This is why: Politico CEO and President Frederick Ryan was a former Assistant to Ronald Reagan. Albritton Communications, sole funder of the Politico, is run by Robert Albritton, son of founder Joe Albritton, a long-time Republican supporter and Bush family friend, friend of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, donor of the Reagan portrait in the White House, and head of Riggs bank when it paid civil fines of $25 million after getting caught laundering money for the Saudis. Oh, and Ryan is the President of Albritton and was also a director at Riggs. What, you thought you were getting Edward R. Murrow? This is just Rupert with a few less billions. As Glenn Greenwald says: Com'on, man, you know why. To Politico, Steele is a "serious person"and Peter Orzag is not. Posted by: E L on December 7, 2009 at 4:03 PM | PERMALINKMichael Steele proves that conservatives are right when they say that affirmative action is there to promote the incompetent and the unqualified - at least so far as it concerns the "Step'n Fetchits" who join the Republican Party. Posted by: TCinLA on December 7, 2009 at 4:25 PM | PERMALINKTo report on what Steele has to say is not worth the copy, but to the extent that anyone believes what he says and makes any sense of it is a clear indicator of how dumbed down the American public really is. Posted by: sparrow on December 7, 2009 at 6:11 PM | PERMALINKDo the Humpty Hump w Mike Steele. Now gather round yeaaa, flounder. somebody got my very obscure reference. "This is simply baffling. In one paragraph, Steele insists government investment hasn't and can't create jobs. In another paragraph, in the same piece, Steele thinks we can improve the economy by spending $1 trillion on job creation?" Let me translate from Bizarro World language. By "improve the economy by spending $1 trillion on job creation", Steele means TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH & CORPORATE. Nevermind that's never worked. That doesn't deter them from proposing repeatedly failed policies. Post a comment
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